The Missing Needle Protector – Ethical Case Studies
E. L. Straight is director of clinical services at Hopewell Hospital. As in many hospitals, a few physicians provide care that is acceptable, but not of very high quality; they tend to make more mistakes than the others and have a higher incidence of patients going “sour.” Since Straight took the position 2 years ago, new programs have been developed and things seem to be getting better in terms of quality.
Dr. Cutrite has practiced at Hopewell for longer than anyone can remember. Although once a brilliant general surgeon, he has slipped physically and mentally over the years, and Straight is contemplating taking steps to recommend a reduction in his privileges. However, the process is not complete, and Cutrite continues to perform a full range of procedures.
The operating room supervisor appeared at Straight’s office one Monday afternoon. “We’ve got a problem,” she said, somewhat nonchalantly, but with a hint of disgust. “ I’m almost sure we left a plastic needle protector from a disposable syringe in a patient’s belly, a Mrs. Jameson. You know, the protectors with the red–pink color. They’d be almost impossible to see if they were in a wound.”
“Where did it come from?” asked Straight.
“I’m not absolutely sure,” answered the supervisor. “All I know is that the syringe was among items in a used surgical pack when we did the count.” She went on to describe the safeguards of counts and records. The discrepancy was noted when records were reconciled at the end of the week. A surgical pack was shown as having a syringe, that was not supposed to be there. When the scrub nurse working with Cutrite was questioned, she remembered that he had used a syringe, but, when it was included in the count at the conclusion of surgery, she didn’t think about the protective sheath, which must have been on it.
“Let’s get Mrs. Jameson back into surgery.” said Straight. “We’ll tell her it’s necessary to check her incision and deep sutures. She’ll never know we’re really looking for the needle cover.”
“Too late,” responded the supervisor, “she went home day before yesterday.”
Oh, oh, thought Straight. Now what to do? “Have you talked to Dr. Cutrite?”
The supervisor nodded affirmatively. “He won’t consider telling Mrs. Jameson there might be a problem and calling her back to the hospital,” she said. “And he warned us not to do anything either,” she added. “Dr. Cutrite claims it cannot possibly hurt her. Except for a little discomfort, she’ll never know it’s there.”
Straight called the chief of surgery and asked s hypothetical question about the consequences of leaving a small plastic cap in a patient’s belly. The chief knew something was amiss but didn’t pursue it. He simply replied there would likely be occasional discomfort, but probably no life–threatening consequences from leaving it in. “Although,” he added, “one never knows.”
Straight liked working at Hopewell Hospital and didn’t relish crossing swords with Cutrite, who, although declining clinically, was politically very powerful. Straight had refrained from fingernail biting for years, but that old habit was suddenly overwhelming.
Applying Ethical Principles
Prepare
For this assignment, you will apply the four ethical principles to your selected ethical health care dilemma. Consider the ethical dilemma the health care professional is faced with in your selected case study. In addition to the week’s readings, use the Capella library to locate at least one academic peer-reviewed journal article you can use to support your analysis of the situation.
If you have not yet done so, use the Ethical Case Studies interactive to select a case study. Specifically, identify which case study you selected and briefly summarize the facts surrounding the case study. Then, use the four core principles that health care professionals need to know and honor when helping patients:
Autonomy: To honor the patient’s right to make their own decisions.
Beneficence: To help the patient advance their own good.
Nonmaleficence: To do no harm.
Justice: To be fair and treat like cases alike, which will be used to inform your work.
Note: The case study may not supply all the information you may need. In such cases, you should consider a variety of possibilities and infer potential conclusions. Please be sure to identify any speculations that you make.
Create Your PowerPoint
To complete this assignment, do the following:
Provide a title slide (slide one).
Identify which case study you selected and briefly summarize the facts surrounding the
case study (slide two).
Apply each of the four ethical principles to your chosen health care issue (slides three through six).
Describe on one slide how autonomy plays a role in your health care issue.
Describe on one slide how beneficence plays a role in your health care issue.
Describe on one slide how nonmaleficence plays a role in your health care issue.
Describe on one slide how justice plays a role in your health care issue.
Provide a URL linking to your field’s professional code of ethics (e.g., nursing, health care administration, or public health) (slide seven).
Reference slide (slide eight).
Do NOT use the author notes for this assignment. Provide content within each slide only.
Academic Requirements
Your PowerPoint should meet the following requirements:
Writing: Produce text with minimal grammar, usage, spelling, and mechanical errors.
Your text should be concise.
Use bulleted or numbered lists.
Sources: Integrate scholarly sources and evidence into your text using APA in-text citations.
Length: Include eight slides, which include the title page and reference slides.
You will NOT use the author notes in this assignment-only provide information on the
slides themselves.
References: Use at least two references (the case study and an academic peer-reviewed
journal article) within the PowerPoint presentation.
APA format: Follow current APA guidelines for in-text citation of outside sources in the PowerPoint presentation and also on the reference slide.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:
Competency 1: Apply information literacy and library research skills to obtain scholarly information demonstrating a spirit of inquiry that fosters flexibility and professional maturity.
Apply autonomy to the identified health care issue.
Competency 3: Apply ethical principles and academic standards to the study of health care embracing principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and antidiscrimination.
Apply nonmaleficence to the identified health care issue.
Apply justice to the identified health care issue.
Competency 5: Write in appropriate tone and style, in accordance with Capella’s writing standards, while demonstrating professional and personal honesty and integrity.
Apply beneficence to the identified health care issue.
Provide a URL linking to one’s field’s professional code of ethics.
Integrate into text appropriate use of scholarly sources, evidence, and citation style.
Produce text with minimal grammatical, usage, spelling, and mechanical errors.
Criteria
Apply autonomy to the identified health care issue.
Apply beneficence to the identified health care issue.
Apply nonmaleficence to the identified health care issue.
Apply justice to the identified health care issue.
Provide a URL linking to one’s field’s professional code of ethics.
Integrate into text appropriate use of scholarly sources, evidence, and citation style.
Produce text with minimal grammatical, usage, spelling, and mechanical errors.
