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WGU D129 TASK 3 | ETHICS IN HEALTHCARE | LATEST UPDATE
WITH COMPLETE SOLUTIONS
POSITION PAPER
Ethics in Healthcare
Rachel Tracy
Western Governors University
, 2
Ethics in Healthcare
Ethical Challenges and Legal Implications
Within the spectrum of healthcare, ethical decisions are made daily. There are times
when the luxury of time is missing, and decisions must be made rapidly as well as those
decisions that can run through the ethics committee. We will look at two such instances that this
organization faced by our nurses in the Emergency Department (ED) and how it aligns with our
mission statement: “Meritus Health exists to improve the health status of our region by
providing comprehensive health services to patients and families” (Meritus Health 2020). With
POSITION PAPER
the overall riding principle of caring for patients and families, we will see how the American
Nursing Association (ANA) codes of ethics play an integral part of moving forward.
To understand the role of the nurse, we look to the ANA code of ethics. They were
implemented “ because it clearly and eloquently reiterates the fundamental values and
commitments of the nurse (Provisions 1–3), identifies the boundaries of duty and loyalty
(Provisions 4–6), and describes the duties of the nurse that extend beyond individual patient
encounters (Provisions 7–9)” (American Nurses Association, 2020). Because our primary
source of care is delivered by nursing and our clinical leaders are nurses, we use the ANA code
of ethics are a guiding resource.
The first ethical decision involves a patient with later stages of amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS) sometimes referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease. This patient was brought to the
ED via ambulance with a paid licensed caregiver and family member. With the current Covid
policy limiting visitors in the ED to one per patient, a decision had to be made rapidly on which
visitor to allow. The situation was made more time sensitive due to the nature of how ill the
patient was and how rapidly events were going to happen. The Masters prepared nursing leader
WGU D129 TASK 3 | ETHICS IN HEALTHCARE | LATEST UPDATE
WITH COMPLETE SOLUTIONS
POSITION PAPER
Ethics in Healthcare
Rachel Tracy
Western Governors University
, 2
Ethics in Healthcare
Ethical Challenges and Legal Implications
Within the spectrum of healthcare, ethical decisions are made daily. There are times
when the luxury of time is missing, and decisions must be made rapidly as well as those
decisions that can run through the ethics committee. We will look at two such instances that this
organization faced by our nurses in the Emergency Department (ED) and how it aligns with our
mission statement: “Meritus Health exists to improve the health status of our region by
providing comprehensive health services to patients and families” (Meritus Health 2020). With
POSITION PAPER
the overall riding principle of caring for patients and families, we will see how the American
Nursing Association (ANA) codes of ethics play an integral part of moving forward.
To understand the role of the nurse, we look to the ANA code of ethics. They were
implemented “ because it clearly and eloquently reiterates the fundamental values and
commitments of the nurse (Provisions 1–3), identifies the boundaries of duty and loyalty
(Provisions 4–6), and describes the duties of the nurse that extend beyond individual patient
encounters (Provisions 7–9)” (American Nurses Association, 2020). Because our primary
source of care is delivered by nursing and our clinical leaders are nurses, we use the ANA code
of ethics are a guiding resource.
The first ethical decision involves a patient with later stages of amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS) sometimes referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease. This patient was brought to the
ED via ambulance with a paid licensed caregiver and family member. With the current Covid
policy limiting visitors in the ED to one per patient, a decision had to be made rapidly on which
visitor to allow. The situation was made more time sensitive due to the nature of how ill the
patient was and how rapidly events were going to happen. The Masters prepared nursing leader
