Reflection Assignment #2 - Week 3

1

Running head: WRONG SURGICAL SITE

2

WRONG SURGICAL SITE

Virtue Ethics: Wrong Site Surgery

Jodi Turco

NURS 521 – Ethics in Healthcare

November 2, 2019

Florence Nightengale said, “It may seem a strange principle to enunciate as the very first requirement in a hospital that it should do no harm” (1863). The reasons I chose to respond to this story are because I remember when there was an occurrence in a hospital near where I live in which a doctor operated on the wrong leg of a patient and because I was shocked that it was actually a true story. Integrity is living up to one’s own moral standards and character. The fundamental ethical principles in nursing are autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, and justice. Medical professionals are seen as the some of the most trusted professionals today and are trusted with the lives of our patients every day. The physician discussed in the story made an error, which is part of being human. Where he lost all of his integrity is when he chose to continue on with the operation after a mistake was made and then continued to lie to the parents of his patient about the mistake until more than a year later. In the video, there is a safety expert that states, “Health care has far too little accountability for results … . All the pressures are on the side of production; that’s how you get paid.” He added that increased pressure to quickly turn over operating rooms has trumped patient safety, increasing the chance of error.

It is my opinion that there should be criminal charges considered based on the fact that the physician lied to the family. Their son suffered damages that were extremely severe due to the actions of the physician that could have possibly been alleviated if they weren’t kept a secret for so long after the fact.

In my clinical setting, integrity as it is missed in this story is by holding a “time-out” prior to any procedure to ensure that the patient, procedure, site, etc. are correct. Integrity is also maintained by advocating for patients. By owning up to near misses if they happen and ensuring that my practice does not put my patient in harm’s way no matter what.

Reference

King, C. (2017). Clinical ethics: Patient and provider safety. Aorn Journal, 106(6), 548-551.

doi:10.1016/j.aorn.2017.10.003