The Neighborhood
Ethics Game Reflective Journal
Donna Leigh Talan HCS/478 – Health Law and Ethics February 14, 2013 Facilitator: William Sevilla
Ethics Game Reflective Journal Nursing has evolved throughout the years. Gone are the days that the existence of nursing geared towards following the orders of senior members on the profession and initiation of routine procedures. In today’s nursing, nurses are valued and needed for their reasoning as well as intellectual skills. The changes in nursing require the desire to be more responsible and contributory to the wellbeing of those that needed care. These changes led to more complex ethical dilemmas that nurses’ encounter. This paper aims to provide a reflection on the Ethical Dilemmas presented on the Ethics Game Simulation, the decision-making steps taken to address the ethical issues, how the ethical concepts influenced the decisions made, and the application of the ethical concepts to a medical-surgical unit.
The Case of the Troubled Teen This case illustrates Rachel Banks a 16 year-old teenager who got pregnant out of wedlock and currently on her tenth hour of labor on the OB/GYN unit at Seva Medical Center. She’s accompanied by her parents. Rachel’s parents are instructing the staff nurses to withhold the pain medication as punishment for getting pregnant before getting married. Since Rachel Banks is a minor, legally, the parents can decide for her. The nurses are concerned due to the possible detrimental health effects that the situation can cause to Rachel and her unborn baby, Lily. The nurses also became aware that the parents may not be fully educated on the consequences of their decision. In order to make an ethical decision on this case, I used the Baird Decision Model which provided five frameworks: Step 1: Be attentive, Step 2: Be Intelligent, Step 3: Be Reasonable, Step 4: Be Responsible, and Step 5: Be Reflective (University of Phoenix,
Donna Leigh Talan HCS/478 – Health Law and Ethics February 14, 2013 Facilitator: William Sevilla
Ethics Game Reflective Journal Nursing has evolved throughout the years. Gone are the days that the existence of nursing geared towards following the orders of senior members on the profession and initiation of routine procedures. In today’s nursing, nurses are valued and needed for their reasoning as well as intellectual skills. The changes in nursing require the desire to be more responsible and contributory to the wellbeing of those that needed care. These changes led to more complex ethical dilemmas that nurses’ encounter. This paper aims to provide a reflection on the Ethical Dilemmas presented on the Ethics Game Simulation, the decision-making steps taken to address the ethical issues, how the ethical concepts influenced the decisions made, and the application of the ethical concepts to a medical-surgical unit.
The Case of the Troubled Teen This case illustrates Rachel Banks a 16 year-old teenager who got pregnant out of wedlock and currently on her tenth hour of labor on the OB/GYN unit at Seva Medical Center. She’s accompanied by her parents. Rachel’s parents are instructing the staff nurses to withhold the pain medication as punishment for getting pregnant before getting married. Since Rachel Banks is a minor, legally, the parents can decide for her. The nurses are concerned due to the possible detrimental health effects that the situation can cause to Rachel and her unborn baby, Lily. The nurses also became aware that the parents may not be fully educated on the consequences of their decision. In order to make an ethical decision on this case, I used the Baird Decision Model which provided five frameworks: Step 1: Be attentive, Step 2: Be Intelligent, Step 3: Be Reasonable, Step 4: Be Responsible, and Step 5: Be Reflective (University of Phoenix,
References: University of Phoenix. (2013). Ethics Game Simulation [Multimedia]. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, HCS478 website.