nhs-fpx 4000 assessment 3 applying ethical principles

Applying Ethical Principles Health care professionals are faced with dilemmas and decisions daily. To resolve issues and many problems they are required to use value and judgment. There are many factors that contribute to decisions as well as using the four fundamental principles of health care ethics autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. Health care professionals utilize these principles along with ethical decision-making to resolve problems or issues when dealing with patients, staff and colleagues. Overview of the Case Study E.L. Straight is the director of clinical services at Hopewell Hospital and has been for the past two years. The quality at Hopewell Hospital was declining and since E.L. Straight has been the director, new programs have been developed and quality is improving. Dr Cutrite is a general surgeon at Hopewell and has been for many years. His quality and physical abilities are not as sharp as they once were, but he continues to perform surgical procedures without any reduction or limitations to his privileges. One afternoon the operating room supervisor reported to E.L. Straight a potential problem was discovered. The OR supervisor stated, "I'm almost sure we left a plastic needle protector from a disposable syringe in a patient's belly, a Mrs. Jameson." The operating room supervisor is not certain the item was left in the patient or if it was included correctly with the count but there was a discrepancy noted when the records were reconciled later that week. There was some investigation from the surgical pack and the supervisor questioned the scrub nurse that was present during the surgery but there was no definite answer if the syringe cap was left in the patient. The director of clinical services preferred to get the patient back into surgery and verify but the patient had already been discharged home