Emily Munson Case Study

Case 2 Part A
Emily Munson, a twenty-four year old nurse registered nurse, works at a nursing home in a small rural community. Recently, she suspects that her supervisor, Sandra Skipper, has been stealing patient’s medication from the medicine cart. Emily has not seen the act take place directly; however, she did observe Sandra leave the nurses station looking suspicious with her head down and hands in her pocket. Emily wants to report the situation, but she is leery for two reasons. First, she believes it is partially her fault because she did not lock up the medicine cabinet in a timely manner. Secondly, Emily does not have solid proof of the stealing, and does not want to jeopardize her relationship with Sandra if she is wrong. Due to the …show more content…
The primary stakeholders include, Emily and Sandra because they are involved in the situation directly, and the decision will affect them the most. Both are at risk of suspension or loss of a job. Secondary stakeholders include, other hospital staff and patients. First, Emily and Sandra’s relationships with her coworkers will be impacted. The developed trust that was built between the health professionals is shattered with this misconduct, and the entire staff may undergo retraining sessions, so a situation like this does not happen again. The patients are also affected because the patient-professional relationship is built on veracity, and some patients are not receiving the correct medications if they were stolen, which can impact their health and quality of life. Emily has decision-making authority in this situation, but the dilemma of her own malpractice is preventing her from sharing the information. Also, the two primary stakeholders have unequal status within the hospital because Emily is young and relatively new at her job, but Sandra is a respected supervisor who has been at the facility for a number of years. The unequal status makes Emily’s decision more difficult and …show more content…
First, fidelity is being faithful to one’s commitments. Emily is breaking procedures stated in her nursing duties, thus she is not being faithful to her commitment and is breaking the ethical principle of fidelity. However, Sandra is also breaking the principle of fidelity because she not following the hospitals and nursing policies, so she is breaking her commitment to both groups. The next ethical principle is veracity, which is to tell the truth. If Sandra is stealing is medications, then she is not telling the truth and is hiding information from her coworkers and patients. Lastly, the ethical principle that is violated is beneficence. Beneficence is to prevent harm, remove harm when it if being inflicted, and to bring about a positive good. Both Emily and Sandra are breaking this principle. Sandra is not preventing harm, and her patients are at risk if they do not receive their proper medications. Also, Emily is breaking this principle because she is not preventing the harm that is done to patients if Sandra is stealing their medications. Neither, Sandra or Emily is bringing about a positive good. Lastly, is the Nursing Code of Ethics, it states that a nurse should be an advocate for the patient, and if unethical conduct by another health professional takes place that can put them in harms way, it needs to be reported immediately. The main conflict that is present