Ethical Issues in Healthcare: Analysis of Case Study 4

Running head: ETHICAL ISSUES IN HEALTHCARE
Ethical Issues in Healthcare
Student’s Name
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ETHICAL ISSUES IN HEALTHCARE 2
Ethical Issues in Healthcare
(Case Study 4)
Introduction
Ethical conduct has become very important in the contemporary society (Post and
Blustein, 2015). Ethics could be defined as the moral principles that are necessary in guiding
good behaviour (Juth, 2015). What could be ethical in one community may be unethical in
another and the vice versa. In the healthcare environment, there are set ethical principles that
guide the behaviour/action of healthcare professionals. According to Hall, Orentlicher,
Bobinski, Bagley and Cohen (2018), ethics have become so important that the bodies heading
the various healthcare professions have come up with professional code of conduct/ethics for
their members. As Kangasniemi, Pakkanen and Korhonen (2015), observes breaching the
professional code of conducts amounts to ethical misconducts and is punishable by law or
through some other set of mechanisms (for instance revoking of one’s licence). This
assignment will be centred around ethical conduct in the health care profession. This will be
achieved through analysing case study four. The assignment will identify the ethical issues
raised in the case study. In addition, the ethical issues will be analysed in relations to human
dignity/human rights, professional code of ethics/conduct, relevant professional policies or
legislation and the principles of healthcare ethics. Lastly, the recommendations for
professional practice will be made.
Ethical Issues Raised in the Case Study
Several ethical issues could be raised regarding the case. One of those issues is that
the triage nurse assumed that Andrew was suffering from bronchitis. It is a high form of
unethical conduct for a healthcare professional to decide based on assumptions. Instead of

ETHICAL ISSUES IN HEALTHCARE 3
assuming, a healthcare professional should carry out the appropriate assessment to identify
what the patient is suffering from. The other unethical conduct was leaving the patient
unattended for six hours since his case was not deemed urgent. This amounts to negligence in
professional practice. It was also unethical for the hospital to withhold the truth from
Andrew’s parents/caregivers. The hospital did not admit their negligence to the parents. They
made it appear as if Andrew presented with the condition as worse as it was by the time they
were informed.
The other issue raised in the case was disrespect for the rights of Andrew. Every
individual on earth has the right to the highest attainable healthcare. This right was denied
through the manner in which the hospital responded to Andrew’s condition. For instance,
making him wait for six hours. The other issue raised in the case study is that of trying to
cover up for the mistakes that they did. In addition, it is clear that the hospital could have
prevented the death of Andrew but acted in a manner that caused his condition to worsen.
The hospital therefore perpetrated harm to a patient which is against the principles of
healthcare ethics (non-maleficence and beneficence).
Analysis of the Ethical Issues
Human beings are rational in nature for they are the only primates endowed with
reason (Williams, 2002). Human dignity refers to the respect that an individual is accorded by
the virtue of being human (Barak, 2015). The nurse assumed that Andrew had bronchitis and
deemed the condition as not urgent. It is disrespect for human dignity to make such as
important decision based on assumption. In such a case, where human life is involved, the
only way to show respect for human dignity is using appropriate assessment techniques to aid
diagnosis and to offer the highest attainable care. Every individual on earth has a right to the