The essays are not research papers but should use content from the class to support
opinions. You may write an expository, descriptive, narrative or argumentative essay.
Write a paper (of whatever length necessary) describing a sentinel moment that involved an ethical situation, decision or dilemma for you personally. A Sentinel Event is defined as any unanticipated event in a healthcare setting resulting in death or serious physical or psychological injury to a patient or patients, but in this case I would like you to think of it as an ethical situation. It need not be a crisis of life or death, or have resulted in injury. As we have seen, sometimes the smallest decisions have the greatest impact, but it should be a
situation which marked a challenge to your previous thinking, a change in your thinking, or a renewal of your previously held principles. Analyze the moment and identify the ethical
concern and the ethical principles that applied.
Submission of Work:
All essays must be submitted to the appropriate dropbox in Blackboard. All dropboxes are located in a folder on the “Assignment” tab in the left hand navigation bar. All assignments must be submitted in Microsoft Word format. No other formats will be accepted. There is not page limit, but answers must be in complete sentences, paragraph form and present high quality thoughtful responses.
Grading:
There is no rubric for this assignment. Essays will be graded on the quality and thoughtfulness of the responses, not
your event or reactions .
Sentinel Moment:
I have managed cardiology for years and one incident sticks out that
was considered a sentinel event. There was a patient that was checkin under the wrong
profile and was given a cardiac test (stress test)that was not for her. Wrong patient, wrong test.
