Medical Torture
Introduction Asclepius Patton is a military nurse, approached by his superior Col. Ratchet, to take a position overseeing interrogation of prisoners of war. Patton is struggling with which decision, pertaining to this offer, whether listen to his ethical beliefs, or ignore his morals and accept this position.
Identification(1)
In this case study there are five ethical issues in which I find. 1. Is it right to take care of injuries that are sustained by the interrogation? 2. Is it right to even continue working, when knowledge on the type of interrogation is known? 3. Is it right to give confidential information about the prisoners away, to be used against them? 4. Is it right to falsify reports of prisoner care, hiding the abuse and or even death? 5. Is it right to compromise your moral principles to help advance yourself in your career?
Do you compromise your moral principles to advance yourself in your career is the central ethical issue to be resolved in this scenario, what do you do? Do you do what you feel is correct and not take the job offer and get out of the predicament, or do you turn a cheek and act as if what is happening needs to happen, and does not pose a problem to you? And do not pay any attention to the oath of commitment you give to your patients as if they personally do not matter? If it gets you where you want to be in your career. Research(2) Source: Nurses code of conduct: This is relevant to the scenario at hand due to this is the “oath” nurses must take pertaining to the patient care in which they give. With in the nurses code of conduct it states, “ that the nurse in all professional relationships, practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth and uniqueness of every individual, unrestricted by considerations of social and economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of health problems” (American
References: American Nurses Association. (2001). Code of ethics for nurses. Retrieved from: http://www.nursingworld.org/about/01action.htm American Red Cross. (2009). American Red Cross code of business ethics and conduct. Retrieved from: http://www.redcross.org/images/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/M4240155_Red_Cross_Code_of_Business_Ethics_and_Contact.pdf Congressional Research Service. (2004). Lawfulness of interrogation techniques under the Geneva conventions. Retrieved from: http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/RL32567.pdf Garrett. (2005). Virtue ethics: A basic introductory essay. Retrieved from: http://www.people.wku.edu/jan.garrett/ethics/virtthry.html Goree,Manias,Till.(2009) Ethics Applied. Pearson. Edition 6.5