- Do you agree with your BRANDY and NICOLE proposed solution? Why, or why not?
- If your peer’s proposed solution were not an option, what different solution would you suggest? Why?
BRANDY POST
I recently heard about an ethical conflict from my stepmother, who works as a nurse in a hospital. She was caring for a patient who had just been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Before she could inform the patient about the diagnosis, the patient’s spouse asked to know the results. The patient had previously made it clear that he didn’t want any medical information, including news of his terminal illness, shared with anyone. Despite this, my stepmother’s supervisor recommended sharing the information with the spouse, believing it might help the family prepare for the worst. The supervisor insisted that my stepmother provide the information, even though the patient had not given explicit consent. The ethical dilemma in this situation was whether to honor the patient’s confidentiality or to share the information with the spouse, considering the potential emotional benefit for the family. The core ethical conflict here centers on whether to prioritize patient confidentiality, which is a basic right in healthcare, or to weigh the potential emotional benefit of sharing this sensitive information with the family. In this case, I believe the right decision would be to respect the patient’s confidentiality, as it aligns with the core ethical principles of healthcare. If I were in my stepmother’s position, I would have a conversation with both the spouse and the supervisor to explain the ethical concerns and why maintaining patient confidentiality is so important.
NICOLE POST
Being a nurse how works in corrections, you can image the problems that occur within those gates. Each day you learn something new. An ethical conflict we have a lot of is when a nurse is discussing inmate’s health issues in front of other inmates. This creates a telephone effect, and by the time the inmate makes it back to his unit, the whole compound knows his business, plus some made-up stuff. The principal that is being challenged is other staff members being around and not correcting that behavior. Instead, they are adding to the conversation, not caring or being mindful of who is around, and listening. This creates so many domino effects for the inmate whose business was spoken on. So, instead of continuing the conversation, it should be stop, and the nurse should be held responsible for actions. As she is well aware of violating HIPPA. A verbal warning should be issued the first time, and the next time, she should be terminated. In todays’ workforce, the environment has gotten so content and complacent, where people have become comfortable with not following rules, because disciplinary actions are truly not being enforced.
