NHS-FP4000 Assessment 1 Applying Ethical Principles
Healthcare professionals always encounter ethical challenges in clinical practice that necessitate them to apply moral principles and values to inform their decisions (Varkey, 2021). There are four primary ethical health principles that clinicians are required to comply with. They include autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. These principles are the pillar of medical practice because they are designed to guide healthcare professionals to make informed, fair, and ethical decisions during challenging patient situations (Varkey, 2021). The purpose of this paper is to develop a solution to an ethical dilemma faced by a healthcare professional in the given case scenario by applying ethical principles.
Overview of the Case Study
E.L. Straight is the director of clinical services at Hopewell Hospital for the last two years. He has initiated and succeeded in implementing various programs to enhance the quality of healthcare services in the setting leading to improvement in patient healthcare outcomes and satisfaction rates (Capella, 2022). Dr. Cutrite is a brilliant and longest-serving general surgeon in the medical facility. However, his efficiency is currently deteriorating due to a reduction in his mental and physical capabilities. As a result, E.L. Straight has made attempts to cut Dr. Cutrite’s privileges to avert probable problems that might be associated with his inefficiencies in vain. DR. Cutrite continues to perform a full range of procedures (Capella, 2022). One Monday afternoon, the operating room supervisor went to E.L. Straight’s office to report an incident where the plastic needle shield was possibly left in a patient’s stomach after a recent surgery.
E.L. Straight recommended that the patient, Mrs. Jameson, should be brought back immediately for surgery to confirm if the needle shield was left in the stomach and be removed if found. They could tell that they only want to conduct the review after the previous surgery (Capella, 2022). Unfortunately, Mrs. Jameson had already been discharged. The supervisor also told Straight that Dr. Cutrite warned them against making the patient aware. Dr. Cutrite believed that the needle shield was not life-threatening and could only cause sporadic discomfort in patients (Capella, 2022). E.L. Straight is left in a dilemma of choosing between ignoring the issue as recommended by Dr. Cutrite and calling the patient back for surgery. Ignoring the issue would leave E.L. Straight troubled about failing to take the right action and the risk of injuries or complications to the patient. Calling the patient back would risk the reputation of the medical facility and the career of Dr. Cutrite. It also opens the prospect of instituting a lawsuit for negligence by the patient.
Analysis of Ethical Issues in the Case Study
The major factor associated with Straight’s ethical dilemma is the decision by Dr. Cutrite to ignore the needle cap in the patient’s stomach. Dr. Cutrite failed to acknowledge his mistake and take responsibility for his action. The issue would have not occurred if Dr. Cutrite did his task properly and taken responsibility for the omission, which is the moral thing to do. The ethical dilemma is also caused by negligence within the surgical team by failing to verify all the boxes before ending the surgical procedure. The medical team also failed to demonstrate accountability by their inability to identify discrepancies after counting the surgical pack. On his side, E.L. Straight demonstrated the principle of non-maleficence by suggesting that the patient should be brought back for surgery to remove the needle cap. However, the patient has already been discharged, which thwarted the wish of E.L. Straight. The pressing ethical concept that presents in this context is justice.
Using the Ethical Decision-Making Model to Analyze the Case Study
The ethical-decision making model comprises moral awareness, judgment, and ethical behavior. These components help in understanding ethical issues in nursing practice. Moral awareness characterizes the ability to identify an ethical issue. Moral judgment is the pick between the right and wrong action. Ethical behavior constitutes doing what is right and likely to address the ethical dilemma by integrating moral awareness and moral judgment (Johnstone, 2022). The ethical issue at hand can be analyzed using the ethical-decision model. E.L. Straight demonstrated moral awareness by identifying the ethical issue and feeling obligated to take immediate action to address it. E.L. Straight’s moral judgment also manifested when he recommended another surgery to remove the needle cap from the patient’s stomach. Suppose E.L. Straight opted to act ethically, he would embark on address
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