ethical dilemma

The executives of a healthcare organization with over 1200 employees have renegotiated the health insurance plan terms and costs for the new fiscal year.  There are several plans offered by this employer, one plan (HMO) has by far the lowest monthly premiums and is the plan that over 95% of the employees opt for.  The […]

You receive a call from a relative saying your 94 year old Aunt B. who lives in the west, has been rushed to the hospital and is in intensive care. Earlier in the day she had been having respiratory distress at her home and her son had transported her to the hospital for treatment. She […]

Mr. X was an older man that had a history of alcohol abuse and was a resident of a nursing home. He enjoyed smoking cigarettes in the designated outdoor smoking area. There were specific times a day that the residents could smoke, which were supervised by staff. The smoking policy stated that all smoking materials […]

Katherine is in her early eighties and suffers from a cardiac valve condition diagnosed about a decade ago.  She has been adamant with her cardiologist since first learning of the problem that she will not have surgery, even if eventually necessary to save her life. Her response anytime he has broached the subject has always […]

I recently witnessed a very real and painful moral dilemma that I would like to share. On Friday, April 30th my great-grandmother passed away in the small farm town of Columbus, Kansas. Throughout her remarkable life she demonstrated the importance of family and taught us how to love. She was 88 years old. My great-grandfather […]

Here’s my dilemma: Eleven years ago, at age 61, my single (divorced) father was transferred to a VA post-acute facility following major surgery. He lived there for what were to be the last two years of his life. The memory issues his adult children had begun noticing prior to his surgery had been diagnosed as […]