ETHICS/PROFESSIONAL VALUES PAPER
(10% OF FINAL GRADE)
100 Points
INTRODUCTION
There is a growing concern over ethical issues in health care related to patient rights, euthanasia, end of life care,
reproductive technology, advances in medical technology, and allocation of scarce resources. The growing cost of
health care, limited access to insurance and health care providers, and the national nursing shortage further impact
accessibility of care. These issues present a multitude of ethical con:licts to nursing practice on a daily basis when
caring for clients and their families.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this Practicum assignment is to assist the graduating nurse in formulating approaches to decision
making in ethical dilemmas. The student, through the clinical practice setting, will be able to identify an ethical
dilemma and follow a stepwise approach to problem solving the issue at hand. This essay should be well organized,
referenced using a minimum of three sources and follow APA format, (title page, body, and reference page. Paper
length should be a minimum of 650 words and a maximum of 1,000 words. The Critical Requirements are as
follows:
CRITICAL REQUIREMENTS:
1. Identify an ethical dilemma involving a client/family during your clinical experience.
An ethical dilemma is a dif:icult moral problem that involves two or more mutually exclusive, yet morally
correct courses of action. Differing values often make agreement on solutions very dif:icult. Ethical dilemmas may
involve peer/professional, client or institutional issues.*
2. Identify and explore the ethical principles in con:lict in the situation, (autonomy, bene:icence, justice, non-
male:icence, veracity, :idelity).
3. Identify and discuss the ethical concepts in question according to at least one of the following documents:
• The ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses
• International Council of Nurses Code for Nurses
• Patient’s Bill of Rights
Example: Code of Ethics for Nursing – Provision 1.1 Respect for human dignity.
1. Explore the possible courses of action and their related outcomes by identifying
potential options and ethical principles that support each option.
2. Discuss how this ethical issue has impacted your care for this patient, and how you believe it may affect
your care of patients in the future.
3. Construction of paper: This essay should be well organized with correct usage of spelling and grammar,
referenced using a minimum of three sources and follow APA format, (title page, body, and reference
page.) Paper length should be a minimum of 650 words and a maximum of 1,000 words.
*Information obtained from:
Hogan, M.A. & Nickitas, D. M. (2009). Nursing leadership and management.
Resources:
• Textbooks
• ANA Code of Ethics. (2015). Retrieved from Nursing World Code of Ethics
• Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity. (n.d.). Retrieved from
The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity
• Patient’s Bill of Rights. (2016). Retrieved from American Cancer Society Treatment & Support
• International Council of Nurses Code of Ethics for Nurses. (2012) Retrieved from
• International Council of Nurses – The ICN Code of Ethics for Nurses
Ethics Paper Rubric
Possible
Points in
each
Category
IdentiRication of
Ethical Dilemma
IdentiRication of
Ethical
Principles and
Concepts
Possible
Courses of
Action
Impact on
patient care
Construction of
paper
20 Correctly identi:ies
ethical dilemma that
student has
encountered during
clinical experience;
involving peer/
professional, client or
institutional issues.
Correctly
identi:ies the
ethical principles
in con:lict in the
situation.
Correctly
identi:ies and
discusses the
ethical concepts
in question
according to at
least one of the
following:
The ANA Code of
Ethics for
Nursing;
International
Council of Nurses
Code for Nurses;
Patient’s Bill of
Rights.
Identi:ies
possible courses
of action and
related
outcomes.
Identi:ies
ethical
principles that
support each
option.
Discusses the
impact of the
ethical issues
on the care of
the
referenced
patient.
Discusses the
impact of
these issues
on the care of
future
patients.
Uses APA format
correctly, including
title page, page
setup, text citations
and works cited
page.
No grammatical or
spelling errors.
Minimum of three
resources used.
15 Correctly identi:ies
an ethical dilemma,
but it is not one
encountered during
clinical experience.
Dilemma does
involve peer/
professional, client or
institutional issues.
Correctly
identi:ies the
ethical principles
in con:lict.
Correctly
identi:ies and
discusses the
ethical concepts
in question.
Does not
reference any of
required
resources listed
above.
Identi:ies
possible courses
of action and
related
outcomes. Does
not identify
principles that
support each
option.
Discusses the
impact of the
ethical issues
on the care of
the
referenced
patient. Does
not discuss
the impact of
these issues
on the care of
future
patients.
Uses APA format
correctly including
all sections required
above. Few
grammatical or
spelling errors that
do not impact the
quality of the paper.
Minimum of 3
resources cited.
10 Correctly identi:ies
an ethical dilemma,
but it is not one
encountered during
clinical experience,
nor does it involve
peer/ professional,
client or institutional
issues.
Correctly
identi:ies the
ethical principles
in con:lict. Does
not correctly
identify ethical
concepts.
Identi:ies
possible courses
of action, but
does not
identify related
outcomes or
supportive
ethical
principles.
Inadequate
discussion of
impact of
ethical issues
on care of
patient and
care of future
patients.
Errors in APA
formatting. Multiple
spelling and
grammatical errors.
Less than 3
resources cited.
5 Does not correctly
identify ethical
dilemma.
Does not
correctly identify
any of the ethical
principles in
con:lict in the
situation. Does
not correctly
identify the
ethical concepts
in question. Does
not reference any
of the required
resources listed
above.
Does not
identify any
possible courses
of action
Does not
discuss the
impact of
ethical issues
on
Doesn’t use APA
format. Lacks more
than one section of
