Assignment

Scenario: A 96-year-old male patient is admitted to the ICU with terminal liver cancer. He is confused and disoriented, very skinny and appears underfed, and is covered with bruises, which are common in patients with liver disorders. His daughter, who is a naturopathic physician, insists that she can cure her father by administering unknown substances, some of which smell like feces and look like tar, down his NG tube. He is clearly in pain after she does this. She insists that these are life-saving interventions on her part, but the nursing and physician staff caring for the patient are very upset and concerned that she is hastening his death. They have come to you for help.

1) Write a paper (1,250-1,500 words) that describes how to use the method of ethical decision making, reviewed in the module, to help resolve this ethical dilemma. Address the following to generate your conclusions about how you would proceed:

a) What are the dimensions of the ethical dilemma?
b) What are the issues?
c) Apply the four core ethical principles and the process of ethical decision making.