Case Study: Conscientious Objection and Professional
Responsibility
Nurse Amelia Brooks, a dedicated and experienced nurse at Riverside Medical Center, has
always been known for her commitment to patient care. However, she finds herself in a moral
quandary when Dr. Rebecca Martin, the leading obstetrician at the center, asks her to assist in
an elective abortion procedure for a patient named Sophie Turner, a 24-year-old graduate
student.
Amelia holds strong personal beliefs against abortion due to her religious upbringing. She feels
that participating in the procedure would violate her conscience and deeply held moral
convictions. However, she also recognizes her professional responsibility to provide care
without discrimination and to prioritize the well-being and autonomy of her patients.
The principle of autonomy emphasizes the importance of individual choice and freedom. In this
context, it applies both to Sophie’s right to make decisions about her own body and to Amelia’s
right to act in line with her personal beliefs. The principle of professional responsibility, on the
other hand, underscores Amelia’s duty to provide care and uphold the standards of her
profession. Balancing these principles is the concept of non-maleficence, which emphasizes the
commitment to “do no harm.” Amelia grapples with what “harm” means in this context: harm to
the patient by potentially denying care or harm to herself by violating her conscience
Responsibility
Nurse Amelia Brooks, a dedicated and experienced nurse at Riverside Medical Center, has
always been known for her commitment to patient care. However, she finds herself in a moral
quandary when Dr. Rebecca Martin, the leading obstetrician at the center, asks her to assist in
an elective abortion procedure for a patient named Sophie Turner, a 24-year-old graduate
student.
Amelia holds strong personal beliefs against abortion due to her religious upbringing. She feels
that participating in the procedure would violate her conscience and deeply held moral
convictions. However, she also recognizes her professional responsibility to provide care
without discrimination and to prioritize the well-being and autonomy of her patients.
The principle of autonomy emphasizes the importance of individual choice and freedom. In this
context, it applies both to Sophie’s right to make decisions about her own body and to Amelia’s
right to act in line with her personal beliefs. The principle of professional responsibility, on the
other hand, underscores Amelia’s duty to provide care and uphold the standards of her
profession. Balancing these principles is the concept of non-maleficence, which emphasizes the
commitment to “do no harm.” Amelia grapples with what “harm” means in this context: harm to
the patient by potentially denying care or harm to herself by violating her conscience
For this assessment, develop a solution to a specific ethical dilemma faced by a health care professional. In your assessment:
- Please use above case study
- Note: The case study may not supply all of the information you need. In such cases, you should consider a variety of possibilities and infer potential conclusions. However, please be sure to identify any assumptions or speculations you make.
- Summarize the facts in the selected case study and use the three components of an ethical decision-making model to analyze an ethical problem or issue and the factors that contributed to it.
- Identify which case study you selected and briefly summarize the facts surrounding it. Identify the problem or issue that presents an ethical dilemma or challenge and describe that dilemma or challenge.
- Identify who is involved or affected by the ethical problem or issue.
- Access the Ethical Decision-Making Model (
https://media.capella.edu/CourseMedia/nhs4000element18816/wrapper.asp )
media piece and use the three components of the ethical decision-making model (moral awareness, moral judgment, and ethical behavior) to analyze the ethical issues.- Apply the three components outlined in the Ethical Decision-Making Model media.
- Analyze the factors that contributed to the ethical problem or issue identified in the case study.
- Describe the factors that contributed to the problem or issue and explain how they contributed.
- Apply academic peer-reviewed journal articles relevant to an ethical problem or issue as evidence to support an analysis of the case.
- In addition to the readings provided, use the Capella library to locate at least one academic peer-reviewed journal article relevant to the problem or issue that you can use to support your analysis of the situation. The NHS-FPX4000: Developing a Health Care Perspective Library Guide will help you locate appropriate references. You will select at least one current scholarly or academic peer-reviewed journal articles published during the past 3–5 years that relate to your topic.
- Cite and apply key principles from the journal article as evidence to support your critical thinking and analysis of the ethical problem or issue.
- Review the Think Critically About Source Quality resource.
- Assess the credibility of the information source.
- Assess the relevance of the information source.
- In addition to the readings provided, use the Capella library to locate at least one academic peer-reviewed journal article relevant to the problem or issue that you can use to support your analysis of the situation. The NHS-FPX4000: Developing a Health Care Perspective Library Guide will help you locate appropriate references. You will select at least one current scholarly or academic peer-reviewed journal articles published during the past 3–5 years that relate to your topic.
- Discuss the effectiveness of the communication approaches present in a case study.
- Describe how the health care professional in the case study communicated with others.
- Assess instances where the professional communicated effectively or ineffectively.
- Explain which communication approaches should be used and which ones should be avoided.
- Describe the consequences of using effective and non-effective communication approaches.
- Discuss the effectiveness of the approach used by a professional to deal with problems or issues involving ethical practice in a case study.
- Describe the actions taken in response to the ethical dilemma or issue presented in the case study.
- Summarize how well the professional managed professional responsibilities and priorities to resolve the problem or issue in the case.
- Discuss the key lessons this case provides for health care professionals.
- Apply ethical principles to a possible solution to an ethical problem or issue described in a case study.
- Describe the proposed solution.
- Discuss how the approach makes this professional more effective or less effective in building relationships across disciplines within his or her organization.
- Discuss how likely it is the proposed solution will foster professional collaboration.
- Write clearly and logically, with correct use of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.
- Apply the principles of effective composition.
- Determine the proper application of the rules of grammar and mechanics.
- Write using APA style for in-text citations, quotes, and references.
- Determine the proper application of APA formatting requirements and scholarly writing standards.
- Integrate information from outside sources into academic writing by appropriately quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing, following APA style.
Example Assessment: You may use the following to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like: It is in the attached files
Your assessment should also meet the following requirements:
- Length: 3–5 typed, double-spaced pages, not including the title page and reference page.
- Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.
- APA tutorial: Use the APA Style Paper Tutorial [DOCX] for guidance.
- Written communication: Use correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
- References: Integrate information from outside sources to include at least two references (the case study and an academic peer-reviewed journal article) and three in-text citations within the paper.
- APA format: Follow current APA guidelines for in-text citation of outside sources in the body of your paper and also on the reference page.