Ethics, Law, and Health Care - Case Study Analysis

Running head: ETHICS, LAW, AND HEALTH CARE 1
Ethics, Law, and Health Care
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

ETHICS, LAW, AND HEALTH CARE 2
Introduction
Victoria Weller is a registered nurse who offers sexual advice to the young individuals.
She finds herself in an ethical dilemma when attending to Stella Nguyen who has suffered from
physical abuse from her Aunt's boyfriend. The patient pleads with the nurse not to tell the doctor
about the bruises on her arms. Stella is also seeking confidentiality from the nurse against
disclosing her relationship status to her aunt. The patient visited the hospital for advice on
treatment and contraceptive pills. The nurse carries her duty by giving the information on the
medicines and their side effects.
This essay will populate the ethical and legal reasoning framework to analyse the case
study. The write-up will discuss the issues and evaluate those occurrences using ICN codes of
ethics and the moral principles. The paper will also look at the appropriate course of action,
implementation and assess the outcome of the activities.
1. Parties and Issues in the Case Study
The parties in the case study are the nurse, patient, doctor, the aunt and her boyfriend, and
Stella's boyfriend. The patient is below the age of the majority and needs the advice to stay away
from sexual relationships. The registered nurse should inform the doctor and the patient's aunt
about the physical abuse towards the patient. The nurse should also notify the aunt of the
relationship of the patient. However, Stella wants her information to remain private.
2. Evaluation of the Issues
(a) ICN Codes of Ethics
The first code is about the relationship between nurses and the patients. The nurse should
provide care that respects spiritual beliefs, customs, values, and human rights (Kennedy et al.,
2015). The caregiver should also ensure that the patient receives timely, sufficient, and accurate

ETHICS, LAW, AND HEALTH CARE 3
information that is in tandem with their cultural beliefs. Nurse Victoria fulfilled the requirements
of the first code by giving Stella the relevant details of the morning after pills. The nurse also
discloses the side effects of the drugs to the patient. However, the nurse is in a dilemma on
whether to inform the doctor about the physical abuse of the patient or otherwise.
The second code requires the nurse to be accountable and responsible for the medical
attention towards the patient. The caregiver should maintain her health to avoid compromising
the quality of healthcare (Scanlon, Cashin, Bryce, Kelly, & Buckely, 2016). The care provider
should create room for open dialogue with the patient and uphold ethical principles. Victoria
provides an opportunity for the conversation that enables Stella to explain her sexual relationship
with her boyfriend. The patient asks the nurse not to disclose her relationship status to the doctor.
Stella also urges Nurse Victoria not to talk to her Aunt about her sexual relationship.
The third ICN code talks about the roles of caregivers in their line of duty. Nurses should
determine and implement acceptable clinical standards of practice (Kangasniemi, Pakkanen, &
Korhonen, 2015). The caregiver should also develop and sustain professional values in the
provision of medical attention. The nurse should advocate for ethical practices and discourage
unethical therapeutic actions. The physical abuse of Stella by her Aunt's boyfriend is unethical,
and the nurse should report the incidence to the doctor. However, the nurse should advise the
patient against the sexual relationship due to Stella's young age. Additionally, the nurse should
discuss the relationship of Stella with her Aunt.
The fourth code talks about the working interaction of nurses and their colleagues. The
caregiver should respect and collaborate with the co-workers to improve the quality of care
(Pickles, de Lacey, & King, 2017). Nurse Victoria should seek the help of Doctor Howe on the
confusing case of the teenage patient. The ICN code also requires nurses to protect patients and