preview

Ethics Paper : Bioethics And Medical Ethics

Good Essays

Amanda Keith
May 10, 2016

BIOETHICS & MEDICAL ETHICS
PHILOSOPHY 345
Case Study #4

(1) What is the central ethical issue in the case?
Chuck Held is an emergency room nurse who is being paged to the Emergency Room since an outbreak of a more virulent form of H1N1 has been confirmed in his city. He has a family, consisting of a 2-year-old son, two golden retrievers and a partner, whom is also a nurse working in another area of the hospital. He worries that he may be quarantined when arriving at the hospital. The central ethical issue is whether or not nurses, like Chuck Held have a duty and moral obligation to treat patients during an outbreak of a highly contagious virus.
(2) Who are the ”interested” parties?
The interested parties include Chuck Held, an emergency room nurse who has been paged to report to the ER. His family, consisting of his partner, dogs and son would be affected if he were to become quarantined at the hospital. Furthermore, the healthcare professionals at the hospital and the ER patients are both interested parties, both affected by the outbreak. All healthcare professionals have the ethical dilemma of whether or not to treat patients during an outbreak and the ethics committee has a duty to oversee compliance among healthcare staff and to resolve any disputes.
(3.) How would you resolve the ethical issue?
An outbreak of a more virulent form of H1N1 in the city has led to the question of whether or not it is the nurse’s duty to treat. This

Get Access