HEALTH CARE ETHICS

Atty. Homelo V. Estoque, RN, MSc.

BSN 209 Classroom Exercise

INSTRUCTIONS: This seatwork must be answered inside the

classroom. Please use 1 whole sheet or sheets of paper as the case
maybe. The use of internet as a reference is allowed but strictly no
plagiarism. Your output will be collected by your class mayor and
she will submit it to me at 1330. Good luck

1. Jerod Hilton has just been informed that he has prostate

cancer. His physician says the only course of treatment
recommended is surgery. Jerod has no hesitation in hi
response and immediately says, “No way Doc, you aren’t
cutting me down there.” After further discussion, Jerod’s
decision is unchanged. What steps, if any, does the doctor
take? (5 points)

2. In emergency situations, what type of consent exists? Explain

and give an example. (5 points)

3. The parents of a 6-year-old child consented to allow her to

undergo “routine cardiac tests.” One of the tests performed
was a catheter arteriogram in which complications occurred.
Questioning of the parents revealed that they did not fully
understand the risks involved. What are the legal implications
of this consent? Identify potential problems in this situation.
(5 points)

4. A 15-year-old enters your office requesting treatment for

scalds received on his hand while emptying the dishwasher at
his place of employment. Although his family receives medical
treatment at your office, you are uncertain about seeing him
without his parents’ knowledge. Can he consent to treatment?
What are the legal ramifications? (10 points)

1
 5. When you are asked to witness a signature, what does it
legally mean? (5 points)

6. After a client signed a consent form and you have witnessed

it, she states, “I think this is the right decision.” What would
you reply? What would you do? (5 points)

7. A client comes in for her annual gynecological examination.

Her physician recommends she have a Pap smear, but she
refuses. The physician stresses its importance and documents
why it is important in the chart. The following year when the
client returns for her annual examination, the physician again
stresses why she needs the Pap smear. The client again
refuses. Six months later the client is diagnosed with cervical
cancer. Soon she files a lawsuit against the physician. The
jury found the physician liable under the doctrine of informed
consent for not stressing more that the client needed a Pap
smear. Why do you think the doctor was held liable? (5 points)

The Lord wants wise men and women, who can act in the
capacity of nurses, to comfort and help the sick and suffering. O
that all who are afflicted might be ministered to by Christian
physicians and nurses who could help them to place their weary,
pain-racked bodies in the care of the Great Healer, in faith
looking to Him for restoration!

-Counsels on Health by Ellen G. White . CH 388.1