nhs-fpx 4000 assessment 3 APPLYING ETHICAL PRINICIPLES

Applying Ethical Principles Healthcare workers handle many dilemmas in their profession. A specific issue that occurs in many different situations is ethical dilemmas. These require much deliberation between multiple disciplines. Four principles help to guide professions in solving these issues.These health care ethics are autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice.(Levitt, 2014) These principles are what guide healthcare professionals when making these weighted decisions. Overview of Case Study E.L. Straight is a director of clinical services. He has implemented programs to improve his hospital quality for the two years that he has worked in this position. The operating room supervisor approaches him and states that she is reasonably sure that a plastic needle protector was left in a patient after surgery. The protector cap is a red-pink color. It would be difficult to spot in the abdominal cavity during her procedure. The supervisor discusses the steps that she took after discovering the situation. Such as questioning the scrub nurse that was working with the surgeon Dr. Cutrite. The supervisor discussed the safeguards in the O.R., and how they count medical tools after surgery. The scrub nurse agrees that a syringe was used but did not recall counting the plastic needle protector. Straight discusses with the supervisor to have the patient go back to surgery to find the plastic cover. Only then does the supervisor inform Straight that the patient has already left the hospital.(Darr et al., 2017) Straight is aware that Dr. Cutrite, in his prime, was a gifted general surgeon. Over the years, his physical and mental abilities as a physician have declined.Straight has previously thought of taking steps to reduce his physician privileges. However, Straight has not taken any actions to do so at this time. After further discussion, the supervisor told Straight that Dr. Cutrite refused to inform the patient of the misdeed and have her come back to the hospital to rectify his

APPLYING ETHICAL PRINICIPLES3 mistake. Dr. Cutrite believes that the cap will not hurt her, and she will never know that it is there. Straight contacts a chief of surgery and asks as a hypothetical question about the scenario