Running head: ETHICS CLIENT CASE
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Ethics Client Case
Rasmussen College
Author Note
This paper is being submitted on January 20, 2018, for Tyler Dean NUR3294 Essentials
of Professional Nursing course.
Ethics Client Case
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Ethics Client Case
In the assigned case study, Anna Moreno, an 82-year-old African American with diabetes
and high blood pressure experienced an emotional breakdown at her volunteering job. The
manager of the library, where Ms. Moreno volunteered at, expressed his concern to Moreno’s
daughter about what happened and that there has been a decrease in the ability to complete
assigned tasks. Lucille, the daughter, and provider for her mother, reports this finding to the
nurse for her opinion. Based on the evidence provided, the nurse suggests the Lucille should
perform a mental health evaluation of her mother for safety. Infuriated by the manager and
nurse’s response, she refuses the offers of any examination and doesn’t want any further
discussion to be conducted on the subject. Instead, Lucille requests that the nurse writes a letter
validating that her mother has good mental and physical health. The nurse is now placed in an
ethical conflict with her client because she cannot adhere to Lucille’s demand without evidence
of Ms. Moreno’s health. In this situation, the nurse is following the principle of beneficence and
considers that it would be in the Moreno’s family best interest if an assessment were conducted,
whereas Lucille believes this violates their autonomy (Potter, Perry, & Stockert, 2017). The
nurse believes that is an appropriate ethical case study and her next step would be to obtain
relevant information about the case. Information should include Ms. Moreno’s past medical
history, reports from the grandchildren and library manager about recent changes in behavior,
and a personal discussion on Anna’s mental status. Following this step, the nurse should selfreflect on her beliefs, values, triggers, and goals for the situation to ensure that personal feelings
don’t conflict with the families. When comfortable, the nurse should address the ethical dilemma
to Lucille and that she is unable to fulfill her request without a proper assessment of Ms. Moreno
because it violates certain ethical principles. Before negotiating an outcome, the nurse should list
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potential courses of actions to reach a compromise with the client. These options can include
receiving a second opinion from a gerontologist or social worker, providing evidence-based
research on risk factors associated with deteriorating mental health, mentioning the benefits of
performing a mental and physical assessment, and addressing the possible scenarios if an
evaluation is not conducted. For example, if Ms. Moreno is exhibiting early signs of dementia,
she may have difficulty working and providing proper care for her grandchildren. Furthermore,
Ms. Moreno puts herself at risk of getting lost when alone and failing to recognize familiar
people or places (Warren, 2016). After considering different outcome, the nurse must negotiate a
final course of action that respects both parties. The nurse could state that a health assessment
could reveal that Ms. Moreno is perfectly healthy and mentally stable enough to continuing
working and caring for her grandchildren. An evaluation could also indicate that Ms. Moreno’s
breakdown and work performance isn’t related to a health problem, but rather a psychosocial
issue within her family. The final step in an ethical case study is to evaluate the actions that were
taken to address the ethical dilemma and if the methods were useful in resolving the conflicting
issues that Lucille had against seeking help. With the help and collaboration of other
professionals, the nurse was able to uncover Lucille’s fears and worries about having an
assessment performed and was able to provide different interventions for her mother to benefit
their family’s health and wellness.
Ethics Client Case
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References
Potter, P. A., Perry, A. G., & Stockert, P. (2017). Fundamentals of nursing (9th ed.). St.Louis,
MO: Elsevier.
Warren, E. (2016). Dementia. Practice Nurse, 26(7). Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.rasmussen.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=tr
ue&db=c9h&AN=116903781&site=eds-live
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References
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Black, B. (2016). Professional nursing: Concept & challenges (8th ed.). St.Louis, MO: Elsevier.
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