Ethical Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethical Case Study - Essay Example Deontological principles focus on the concept of duty rather than any concept of right or wrong. With reference to the case, there are two types of deontological ethical theories, duty theories and rights theories. Duty theories purport an action as being morally right if it is in accord with some list of obligation and duties. Right theories is an action is morally right if it is adequately respects the right of all humans. Conversely, the two types of consequential ethical theories that are related to the case study include utilitarianism and ethical egoism. Utilitarianism states that people are driven by their fears and interests. However, their interests supersede their fears. A group of people can pursue their happiness while hurting others. Ethical egoism is a consequential theory that prescribes action that can either be beneficial or detrimental to the welfare of others. The deontological ethical theory, duty theory was not implemented by J.L mother. Despite the fact that, sh e is a nurse in the same hospital that J.L went to seek treatment, she could have respected the patient bill of rights. When J. L was in the emergency room, her mother could have given her privacy. The staff assumed that the mother wanted to stay even without seeking the patients’ permission. The duties of a nurse are to practice confidentiality with a patient. This clearly shows that her rights are being violated with respect to the rights theories. The nurses should have done the necessary tests to rule out a possibility of appendicitis. The nurse delays her treatment for about two hours, dishonoring their professional code of ethics that advocates for proper full attention towards a patient’s illness. Due to a lost specimen, the nurses decided on a pelvic exam that was traumatic to the patient. This is also seen as a violation of her rights. The reports indicating that the patient was uncooperative depicted that the moral rights of the nurse were not followed. The p regnant test done against J.L permission was also not a morally ethical act. After undergoing such an ordeal, the nurses did not recommend any form of treatment. This was a violation of the nursing code of ethics. The nurses were focused on the concept of duty rather than any concept of right or wrong (Marcum, 2010). If the consequential theory, which determines the rightness or the wrongness in any action were used in this scenario, J. L would have received better kind of treatment. J.L mother should have helped her daughter in the application and given her bill of rights to read. Confidentiality is an imperative issue especially when it is concerns with some ones health. The staff that was treating J.L should have examined her alone. Utilitarianism was clearly implemented as the nurse conducted a pregnancy test on a patient without his approval (Pozgar, 2007). They conducted this test on the notion that many underage girls have â€Å"immaculate conceptions† on the event the y report abdominal pains. Ethical egoism could have been implemented on the event J.L did not tell her mother the diagnosis of her abdominal pain. Since, she is a nurse at that hospital; she would have easily accessed that information. The delay in the examination and lack of any remedy for the pain by the medical staff supports the