Scenario 2 comes with many challenges and ethical dilemmas due to the severity of the problem. I
work for the Veterans Healthcare and certain staff members are issued a laptop and cell phone to
provide telehealth by either video conference or phone calls which provide continuity of care. The
laptops are also used for veteran’s outreach program to ensure that all veterans could register
with the Veterans Healthcare facility to receive medical care. Many veterans have changed their
modality of their medical visits to video conference or phone visit to lower the risk of COVID
exposure due to their compromised immune systems. The IT department takes extra measures
that the security software is up to date which will reduce the risk of cyber threats. In the most
recent years there has been an increase in health care data breach by laptop users which has
patient information, this is a federal violation under HIPAA (West, K.).
As a VA employee and if I lost my laptop, I need to reach out to the IT help desk and inform them
of the incident so they can start the process of disabling my account to reduce the data breach.
The most important step of reporting the incident to be clear and honest of the situation and how
it happened to ensure that patient information is not compromised which will avoid any HIPAA
violations. Reporting the incident and providing full details is the ethically right thing to do which
will avoid additional repercussions. As the temporary owner of the laptop, it is my responsibility to
ensure that I always have any sensitive items in my possession regardless of the situation. Any
punishment that is bestowed upon me would only be fair because I put patient and company
information at risk for violation.
What challenges are present in the scenario, and what are some steps that can be taken to
address them?
Within scenario #1 we have a situation where it appears that data that has been collected and
reviewed is being altered to try to alter results and the outcome of research that is being done. e
This challenge is one of intentional deception that appears to be done to gain an outcome that one
is looking for. e In addition to the issue of an intentional deception, I would be in a position where I
would be challenged by a conflict of interest to report this challenge. e In this situation I would be
conflicted about reporting this situation, as it might open me up to retaliation if my leader was the
one altering data. e Necessary funding to pay for my position might also be impacted if I reported
and because of this report the funding to receive a grant was jeopardized (Weiss, 2022).
In this situation there are several possible ways to address this, but most of them are difficult and
challenging. The first would be to take this information to the leader of the research study and
report the misinformation that is being input. e As stated earlier though this might be challenging
and could put me in conflict with my superior. e There is a possibility that they were unaware the
data was being altered but maybe not. e Additionally, most research studies and healthcare systems
should have a corporate compliance officer (often even someone dedicated specifically toward
research) and/or hotline with which I could anonymously report my concern. e This would allow for
someone independent of the research to assess what is happening and if it follows company
policies and/or research requirements.
What is the relationship between ethics and policy? Do they always match up with one another?
Ethics is a framework of beliefs and values that are used to help understand and frame one's
understanding of the work and assist in decision making. e It is fundamental and serves as
framework from which laws and policies can be developed and implemented to help practically
apply ethical principles (Biedenbach, 2012). e There are three types of ethics known as descriptive
(what is right and wrong?), theoretical (what are the justifications of right and good?) and
normative (
Ethics can at times be viewed as the development of a theoretical framework from which to assess
and judge situations. When conducting an ethics analysis, we can view it through three lenses: e
descriptive, theoretical, and normative (how can we act in accord with what is right and good)
(Petrini, 2010).
Policies are rules and human structures developed to help govern how we interact within
community and organizations. e Different organizations, bodies and others develop policies to help
guide both general and specific situations (Biedenbach, 2012). e e Within healthcare organizations,
healthcare policies are developed to help guide staff around how to handle situations and
decisions in a way that reflects regulatory requirements and organizational values and ethics. e
Policies always reflect a particular framework and belief system as to how things are handled and
valued. e Thus, to reflect on the question of whether ethics and policy match up with one another, I
think is not a straightforward answer. e There are different types of ethics, and thus policies that
are developed reflect the priorities and the practical ethics expressed by the policy. e The goals for
organizations and individuals when they develop policies is whether these policies reflect their
expressed ethics and values. e Therefore, ethical discernment and implementation have a significant
role and place to play in policy development (Petrini, 2010).
If individual ethics do not align with organizational policy, what might be the result?
If individual ethics do not align with organizational policy, typically a person's sense of satisfaction
in the work and job they do can be threatened and diminished. e According to a 2020 study
conducted by Martin Woods of nurses around the world, a major source of moral distress for
nurses occurs when their personal ethics are not being supported by organizational policies and/or
the way that these policies are being operationalized. e This can often be expressed and viewed in
terms of problems with bosses, poor care practices, etc. e The challenge is that the ethical climate
within our workplaces has become more challenging as often the nurse's ethics of caring collides
with the operational need at times to gain greater efficiencies in the workforce and organizational
policies at times that make it harder to carry out care styles and approaches that align most deeply
with the ethics of individual nurses (Woods, 2020). Thus, the result of this is dissatisfaction,
burnout, and often greater turnover in the workforce.
References
Biedenbach, J. E. (2012). Introduction, background, and history. In Ethics, law and policy (pp. 1-66).
SAGE Publications, Inc., https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781452218618.n1
Petrini C. (2010). Ethics-based public health policy?. American journal of public health, 100(2), 197–
198. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2009.181511
Weiss, M. J... M. J. (2022). Medical ethics. Magill’s Medical Guide (Online Edition).
Woods, M. (2020). Moral distress revisited: the viewpoints and responses of nurses. International
Nursing Review, 67(1), 68–75. https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1111/inr.12545
West K. (2014). Patient medical information at risk from stolen computers. Missouri medicine,
111(1), 10–12.
