Instructions:
Choose one of the five cases and corresponding article(s) from the list of required readings in the course’s E-Reserves at the Health Sciences Library. Please note that the case studies “Handling Home Care Clients’ Requests” and “Equal Opportunity” are not in the Post & Blustein (2021) text book as are the other three cases, but can be found in the Week One Required Readings and E-Reserve materials as well. (The case about Carla in E-Reserves shows a different page number than in your 2021 text. In your 2021 text it begins on page 195.) Assume that you are part of the ethics team and have been asked to offer an initial review of the case with the facts that you have at hand in the case. Your audience for this review of the case are the health care professionals involved in the case.
(Fear not. You are not expected, at this early moment in the course, to know exactly how to do this analysis perfectly. Feel free to experiment, dig deep into the contexts of the cases, and find the issues that you believe, with the help of the companion articles, to be key. If you have time, you can poke around in the optional readings for this week and the Week 2 readings for supplementation, but you are certainly not required to do so. You will have a chance to reanalyze the case and rewrite your paper later in the course, using feedback you receive on this attempt.)
The cases are more complex than they initially appear. If they seem too simple, ask “what am I missing?” Respond to the following questions on the case and article(s) you read. It is acceptable to refer to the key people in the case by their names such as Dr. Smith or Mrs. Stack. This reference by name to the people in the case is the procedure for all assignments involving the case studies. Address these points in your paper:
Start the paper with this sentence: “The ethics consultation service appreciates this referral. This document represents our analysis of the case and concludes with our recommendations.”
Explain why the case involves an ethical issue (there can be more than one ethical issue) as opposed to issues that are clinically related; think in terms of conflicts between rights and responsibilities or conflict among principles such as a patient’s self-determination and a health care provider’s duty to care.
Reflect on the various perspectives of individuals (at least two people involved) in the case and what these perspectives tell you about the ethical issues in the case. If you believe it could be ethically justifiable for the team to overrule the viewpoint of someone in the case, how might the clinicians manage this while maintaining a therapeutic relationship with all parties?
Explain how the companion article(s) help(s) or not to explain or highlight the ethical issues in the case.
The final paragraph of the paper should begin as follows: “Based on this analysis, the ethics consultation service will take the following steps:” Then list at least three steps. You may choose from the following: talking individually with involved clinicians, family members, and/or patient; consulting institutional policy; inviting family and clinicians to a meeting run by the ethics consultation service; calling a meeting for clinicians only; speaking with administrators; contacting persons outside the institution; bringing the matter before the full ethics committee; or something else. The steps you choose should help move the parties toward a resolution of the issues you have identified. In a sentence or two, describe the purpose for taking each step you have chosen.
Based on the case you choose and corresponding article(s), submit a paper 3-4 pages in length in Word (not including references), double spaced. The file should be titled with your last name and the week in the course, e.g., SmithWeek1.docx. This is the name you give your document/paper when you save it. This system with your name on the file really helps the instructor organize your work. You must use APA format for the paper including proper in-text and reference page citation format. Include a title page for this assignment, but no abstract. If you reference one of your textbooks in the course, please include the page number as you would any other reference.
https://www.painmanagementnursing.org/article/S1524-9042(11)00193-7/abstract
