critically evaluate and assess the ethical issues entailed in the case

1) critically evaluate and assess the ethical issues entailed in the case;
(2) discuss their process of deliberation to resolve it;
(3) present the decision of the committee; and
(4) offer possible objections to the decision.
(5) the extent to which it is properly written with respect to grammar, style, and substance

Pretend/imagine that
you are a member of the hospital Ethics Committee and your Committee is
reviewing the case below. Specifically, you are charged with identifying
and assessing the moral relevant moral issues of this case and, if
warranted, recommending disciplinary action. Each student will submit a
3-page paper critical discussing the process and outcome of the
Committee’s deliberations (so each student will assume the role of “Lead
Committee Member” whose job it is to prepare a final report of the
Committee’s findings for the hospital administration. You will find
specific grading criteria for this assignment in the course Syllabus;
please review before turning your papers in.

The following is a true story that occurred on Long Island, NY in a local hospital.
In Hospitals all across the US people are not identified by name,
but by room number. “Mrs. Smith” becomes “the lady in 21.” or “the
window patient.” This is dangerous for a number of reasons. Read below
and see for yourself.

“Laura” was a nurse on the neuromedicine unit at a local
hospital. She had been working there for 2 years and enjoyed her job.
She became quite fond of a 60 year old man with MS (multiple sclerosis)
named “Joe Jamison.” MS is a debilitating disease that causes loss of
muscle tone and control. Joe was a “frequent flyer” on her unit, coming
in for IV medication during exacerbations of his MS. He had no family or
friends and liked to talk with the nurse’s and staff during his
sometimes lengthy hospital stays. This particular time he was in room
409B. Laura greeted him as she came on shift and saw that he had a new
roommate. She received report from the previous nurse and learned that
the new patient was “Edwin Jones”, a 58 year old male with cancer. He
had a craniotomy (neurosurgery) 3 days ago to remove a malignant tumor
in his brain and was awaiting a transfer to the 8th floor where he would
begin receiving chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is only administered in
certain areas of the hospital by trained staff. No one on Laura’s unit
was certified; henceforth Edwin’s transfer was definite. During her
shift a resident she had not seen before stopped by her med cart and
tapped her on the shoulder. “Are you the nurse for 409B?” “Yes, that’s
Mr. Jamison” replied Laura. “How do you find his strength on the left
side?” asked the resident. “Mr. Jamison?” questioned Laura. She thought
this was an odd question because Mr. Jamison had MS and was obviously
weak on his left side. “Yeah,” replied the resident. “Well, he is very
weak in all four extremities, although he is able to feed himself using
his left hand and arm.” “How about the drain? How much has it put out
today?” asked the resident. “The drain? Mr. Jamison doesn’t have a
drain. He’s here for MS exacerbation. Do you mean Mr. Jones in 409A?”
“Yeah, the craniotomy guy.” stated the resident. “Mr. Jones’s drain has
put out 20cc since 7am.” stated Laura. “Alright, I’ll be up here later
on to write some new orders for him,” the Resident stated. “Okay,”
replied Laura. As it became time for Laura to leave, she checked the
charts once more for new orders. Nothing new noted for anyone she was
caring for. She gave report to the night nurse and left for the day. She
was off the next day. Upon her return at 7am on the second day she
noticed that Joe’s bed was empty. She asked the night nurse, “What
happened to Joe?” “Oh…it was terrible. Last night around 11:30pm he just
coded out of nowhere. We got a heart beat though and he went to the
MICU.” stated the night nurse. “Does anyone know if he made it through
the rest of the night?” asked Laura. “I’m not sure.” stated the night
nurse. On her break, Laura went down to the MICU and inquired about Joe.
She was told by the MICU nurse that Joe had coded again around 1:30am
and this time he did not make it. Laura felt sad. She liked Joe and
wondered what could have happened. He seemed fine when she left 2 days
ago. The MICU nurse told her that upon reviewing his chart it was
discovered that in addition to his IV steroid regimen for MS, he had
received a dose of IV chemo yesterday in the afternoon. Apparently the
resident who Laura had spoken to about Mr. Jones in 409A, had written an
order the following day, for Mr. Jones’s (409A) IV chemo meds in Mr.
Jamison’s (409B) chart. The order was picked up by a nurse who was new
to the unit and sent to the pharmacy. The med should have never made it
up to the 4th floor, as chemo was not administered there, but it did.
The nurse administered the medication and several hours later Mr.
Jamison went into multi system organ failure. Although Laura never saw
the new nurse who administered the med, she did see the resident again.
She never heard anything else about Mr. Jamison. When she asked the
nurse manager on the unit about what was going to happen as a result of
this tragedy, the nurse manager replied “Probably nothing else. He had
no family, no one even showed up to claim the body. The investigation is
being handled internally by QA.”

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