Assignment Application of Ethical Principles from Print Media

Assignment Application of Ethical Principles from Print Media

Application of Ethical Principles

Ethical principles are code of conducts that allow people to interact and undertake their responsibilities with high level of integrity. The ability to distinguish and react to ethical dilemmas while treating patients is a complicated process that should be taken seriously by even the experienced nurses in their field. Busy schedules and caseloads reduce the opportunities for thorough assessment of ethical dilemmas that usually require a decision. There are copious codes of ethical conduct that guide different nursing professionals while dealing with ethical dilemmas (Aitamaa, Suhonen, Puukka, & Leino-Kilpi, 2019). The codes are important because they are useful in giving the public and the client’s assurance of the ethical constraints of the certified behavior than in granting nurses or medical professionals with a valuable frame of reference for dealing with diverse dilemmas usually encountered in the treatment process.

According to the Washington Post on 1st February 2020, there was an ethical situation. Keith Corl was operating in Las Vegas emergency room when a male patient arrived with chest pain. After some analysis in the triage, patient was taken for X-ray as well as other tests. However, later on in the treatment area, Doctor Corl met the man, lifted his shirt and concluded that he was suffering from viral infection characterized by the shingles on the skin (“Doctor’s Struggle”, n.d). Tha patient had to pay for the tests even though they were not conducted, which contradicts the ethical principle of non-malfeasance. In other words, the patient had to pay extra $1000 besides the costs of treatment that he incurred. In this case, the ethical principle of justice and non-malfeasance apply since it was unethical for doctor Corl to impose the charges for tests even though they were not done. Additionally, Doctor Keith Corl contradicted the ethical principle of beneficence by suggesting the tests without priori critical examination of the patient’s condition.

Reference

Aitamaa, E., Suhonen, R., Puukka, P., & Leino-Kilpi, H. (2019). Ethical problems in nursing management–a cross-sectional survey about solving problems. BMC health services research, 19(1), 417.

Doctors strruggle as business of health care affects patients – The washington post. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/too-many-tests-too-little-time-doctors-say-they-face-moral-injury-because-of-a-business-model-that-interferes-with-patient-care/2020/01/31/c00e9d58-3d3a-11ea-8872-5df698785a4e_story.html

Assignment: Application of Ethical Principles from Newspaper

Find an ethical situation from the print media (newspaper, journals, magazine) that describes one ethical situation. It does not have to be in healthcare. You may use online-newspapers and journals but not blogs.

Write a summary of the ethical situation and then identify, with explanation, the ethical principles the situation presents