Health Medical Homework Help. Howard Community College Ethical Decision Worksheet
Patient Care Section
Ethical Dilemma Activity
This assignment is designed to prepare students to make ethical decisions when faced with dilemmas in the clinical setting.
- Ethical dilemmas and decision-making require critical thinking and self-analysis.
- It is necessary to identify your core beliefs and your positions on the ethical issue or dilemma.
- It is important to discuss in detail both your core beliefs and the origins of your core beliefs with depth and clarity.
- Ethical dilemmas often require ethical analysis when the corrective action is in question.
Key Terms to Understand When Making Ethical Decisions:
Core Beliefs: Those fundamental principles that consciously or unconsciously influence one’s ethical conduct and ethical thinking. Even when unacknowledged, core beliefs shape one’s responses. Core beliefs can reflect one’s environment, religion, culture, or training. A person may or may not choose to act on their core beliefs.
Ethical Perspectives/Concepts: The different theoretical means through which ethical issues are analyzed, such as ethical theories (e.g. utilitarian, natural law, virtue) or ethical concepts (e.g. rights, justice, duty).
Complex Multilayered Context: The sub-parts or situational conditions of a scenario that bring two or more ethical dilemmas (issues) into the mix/problem/context/ for student’s identification.
Cross-relationships among the issues: Obvious or subtle connections between/among the sub-parts or situational conditions of the issues present in a scenario.
Ethical Decision Making Assignment Details
- Each student will use the worksheet provided to write his/her version of the following ethical decision making steps for the assigned dilemma. The worksheet will be submitted as a file upload in the Canvas Assignment.
- Each student will post to the discussion board his/her original final part of step c only (Choose and defend the solution with thoughtful reflection and clarity).
- Each student will reply (provide feedback) to at least one other member of the group. The reply to a fellow group member should demonstrate evidence of thoughtful reflection and provide insights, alternative perspectives, or other consideration.
- Identify the ethical concerns relating to the specific issue or issues. Describe the ethical issue in full detail and demonstrate clarity concerning what is to be decided, anddiscuss complex context and cross-relationships present relative to the dilemma.
- Identify your core beliefs and positions on the ethical issue or issues. Discuss/analyze in detail your core belief and origins of the core beliefs.
- Apply alternative ethical perspectives to your own perspective and consider the fullimplications of the application (identify and apply relevant ethical perspectives and concepts to develop alternative solutions and consider the implications of alternate solutions completely).
Choose and defend the solution with thoughtful reflection and clarity.
– Dilemma 1: As a new technologist on an evening shift, you encounter a patient for a chest x-ray who is dirty, appears to have been drinking alcohol, and who is making inappropriate comments and proposals of a sexual nature. The patient has not made any physical contact or gestures and does not appear to be a danger to you. You have a job to do to complete the x-ray, but you are uncomfortable with the situation.
– Dilemma 2: As you are performing an abdomen examination on a young adolescent patient who seems quiet and shy, a fellow technologist comes into the room behind the control panel, but within hearing distance of the patient, and begins to discuss a personal relationship problem at home.Your coworker seems upset and emotional. Some of the discussion seems inappropriate for a young adolescent to hear. You are concerned about your coworker but you are distracted from the care of your patient and concerned about the exposure of the young patient to an inappropriate conversation.
– Dilemma 3:You have finished your 2 years of training and education to become a radiologic technologist and you are excited about entering the field. You study hard and pass the certification examination and are now an official RT.The next day one of your classmates calls you and begins to grill you about what questions were on the examination. You have been very close friends with this particular student and now facing a dilemma. You want to help the fellow student because you believe she may not be successful on the exam.
– Dilemma 4: While working at a Trauma Center on a very busy evening shift, you witness a fellow technologist making multiple errors while x-raying an injured 10 year old girl (cropping pertinent anatomy from images, repeating multiple images, not applying collimation or shielding). You are in the adjacent x-ray room that shares control panel space preparing and setting up equipment and supplies to perform an exam on another trauma patient but have concerns.
