Assignment 4 DECISION MAKING AND ETHICAL REASONING

RN/BSN ADVANCED PLACEMENT OPTION
Fall 2022 – NU 363 (Group Assignment)
Assignment 4 DECISION MAKING AND ETHICAL REASONING

Worth 100 points.

For the purpose of this NU 363 assignment, EVERY student is required to work in a group of 4 or 5 students as assigned by the Course Coordinator. Group work is required to grow your leadership and management skills as a nursing leader! You must communicate with each other, discuss the assignment, discuss responses, share information, and come to a consensus for your answers to promote optimal learning. You need to use the Canvas messaging system for this communication.

After August 26, 2022, you can see which group you have been assigned to by going to the NU 363 Home page and clicking on “People” in the menu section, then select Decision Making and Ethical Reasoning Groups. Then, you can find your name. For this assignment, I have selected your Group Leader. Once you open your group, the Group Leader will have a person icon beside their name. The Group Leader will be responsible for the delegation of individual work for the project as outlined in the Group Work Management Plan (available in this module) and will send to the group members by Friday, September 2nd. The members are responsible for responding timely within 24 hours or less. Remember every student is working as a registered nurse and is very busy! Everyone must check Canvas Messages every day! Everyone is required to communicate, collaborate, and contribute to this group assignment! If you fail to participate, you will not receive credit.

• The Group Leader will complete the Group Work Management Plan and send to the entire group by Friday, September 2nd. This is a contract between your group members. Each group member needs to review this document for individual assignments and due dates.
• Use this document to enter your answers into this assignment by saving to your computer and typing directly into the document. Submit the assignment by the due date to avoid deductions of valuable points. The Group Leader will submit this assignment in Canvas. Be sure to check the submission to make sure it is the correct document that was agreed on by the group. Use proper grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, and correct spelling.
• All student names in the group must appear on the assignment. Your grade is dependent on the work produced as a whole group/team. Utilize the Canvas system to message through the Inbox for communication, questions, or clarification by the group.
• Only one student (the leader) from the group is responsible for uploading the completed assignment in Canvas. Make sure you submit the correct document. When the assignment is graded, the grade will become available for all group members.
• This activity will engage each student into the group process and challenge your creativity, strengthen critical thinking skills, enhance your perspectives on decision making, broaden your knowledge in coordinating patient care, and enhance professional skills in communication and networking.
• Combined with your previous knowledge and experiences, the additional considerations included in this assignment will provide the elements you need to plan and implement comprehensive patient care. Thus, you grow as a more valuable resource to the health care team.
• It is an expectation for all group members to communicate with the group, collaborate with the group, and contribute equally to the workload of this assignment, as well as practice civility with each other. If one of the group members has not collaborated, communicated, or participated in this assignment, I need to know immediately but no later than Wednesday, 9/28, so that I may contact the other group member.
• If a student fails to communicate, collaborate, contribute, or participate in this group assignment, Dr. Puckett will remove the student from the group, deduct points for no group participation, and will assign the student an individual project for completion. I will provide you with further instructions on what to do about the assignment at this point. A Group Member Evaluation Form will be completed, which is available in the Group Member Evaluation Form Module.
• Review Module B – Assignment 3, 4, & 5 Resources for additional information beyond the textbook. Read chapters 1, 4, 5, and 6 in your Marquis and Huston (10th edition) textbook.
• This assignment is worth 100 points total for your group. Note the value of each question as indicated on this assignment.

Read the following document closely and follow the directions to find the correct answers. Do not change format of this document.

Student Name(s): __ All Group Members Names are Required ___________________

1. ETHICS – 15 points

See Chapter 4 in textbook-pp. 84-108.

 

1. Read the following statements. State in the blank if you agree or disagree with the statement. (5 points – 1 point per answer)

 

1. Then explain your decision (agree or disagree) based on the ethical concepts which are defined in the textbook AND identify the ethical concept(s) – beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, justice, fidelity, veracity, paternalism, utility, futility) – upon which you base your decision for each statement.(10 points – 2 points per answer)
2. A person has the right to refuse treatment, even if it will hasten his/her death. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. People have the right to participate in all decisions related to their health. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. The therapeutic use of marijuana for nausea and pain control should be legalized in all states. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Healthcare is not a right; it is a responsibility. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Stem cell research should be financed and promoted by federal funding. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

1. ETHICAL DILEMMAS – 56 points

Read Learning Exercise 4.4 “A Nagging Uneasiness” on pp. 96-97 in Marquis & Huston, 10th edition. Utilize the format below and type directly into the document. Each question should be followed by your response as a group; retain this formatting to facilitate instructor grading. Remember to be thorough, expand your answer, and demonstrate your critical thinking skills.

 

1. Identify ALL (must have at least 6 parties) involved in this case study to include the parties that are directly affected or would have an interest in this case. (6 points total – 1 point each)

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2. At what point (name two points that could be considered) did this case become an ethical dilemma? Give rationale for both your answers. (6 points total – 3 points each)

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   Identify three questions that are to be considered or three questions you would ask to gather more information (regarding all the parties involved). Identify questions that would help you gather data or assist in the decision-making process if you were the nurse. (6 points – 2 points each)

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4. Identify three alternatives for action in this case. (6 points – 2 points each)

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   Identify one of the alternatives/actions that could pose a breach of duty. Discuss how this alternative is a breach of duty. (4 points)

 

6. As the nurse, which party should receive your fidelity? Explain your answer. (5 points)

 

 

 

7. Make a concise statement describing the ethical problem. (4 points)

 

 

 

 

8. Name two specific factors that influence your decision-making in this ethical dilemma.

(4 points – 2 points each)

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9. Name two “assumptions” that influence your decision making in this ethical dilemma; assumptions are not facts; what do you “assume” about this situation or your attempts to intervene? (4 points – 2 points each)

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10. Describe ONE approach (utilitarianism/teleological/consequentialist, deontological, duty-based reasoning, rights-based reasoning, or intuitionist) for dealing with this ethical dilemma utilizing concepts discussed in the text. Explain your answer. (6 points)
11. Assume this was a real case. Twenty-four hours after the child’s discharge, she is readmitted with critical head trauma. Police reports indicate that the child suffered multiple skull fractures after being thrown against a wall by her mother’s boyfriend. The child is not expected to live. Explain how your group’s problem solving and approach to this ethical dilemma would have been altered, now that you know the outcome. (5 points)

      III.      CRITICAL THINKING – 10 points

1. Refer to Display 1.1 “Characteristics of a Critical Thinker” on p. 4 in Marquis & Huston, 10th edition. Identify the single one characteristic that your group believes is the most important factor to critical thinking. Give rationale for the characteristic that you selected. (3 points)

 

11. Discuss your group’s preferential or most commonly used model for Decision Making and explain your answer: Traditional Problem-Solving, the Managerial Decision-Making Model, the Nursing Process, the Integrated Ethical Problem-Solving Model, or the Intuitive Decision-Making Model found in Chapter 1, pp. 5-11. (4 points)

 

1. Review Chapter 1, pp. 18-19 that speaks to “right and left” brain thinking patterns. Which thinking pattern best describes your group and why? Only one answer per group. (3 points)

 

1. DECISION-MAKING TOOLS – 14 points
2. DECISION-MAKING TOOLS – 6 points

Many hospitals use a grid or some type of comparison graph to demonstrate various data on physician’s productivity, patient outcomes, etc. Remember, in your nursing practice, to use tools that are available to aid in decision making or demonstrate data. Clinical settings routinely have “tools,” or other quantitative and qualitative data, to aid in data gathering and decision-making. Name three commonly used decision-making tools in your clinical setting or most clinical settings and explain the importance of each tool. (6 points – 2 points each)

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4. DECISION GRIDS – 8 points

Who Should Go?

SCENARIO:
You (your group) are the evening shift charge nurse of the intensive care unit. Your supervisor is sending two nurses from each shift to an upcoming critical care conference in a nearby city. The supervisor wants each charge nurse to submit names of the selected nurses. All 12 of the full-time evening shift nurses would like to go. From a staffing standpoint, any of them could go. All are active in the local critical care organization. Due to financial limitations, you must limit your choice to two.

Using the decision grid example (Figure 1.3 on p. 22) in Marquis & Huston 10th edition, Chapter 1, develop headings, which serve as criteria for the selection process.

Assign each criteria a point value. Therefore, each of the 12 nurses will have a score according to the criteria. Scoring will determine which two nurses are selected to attend the conference. Utilize the grid below and be prepared to share the completed grid with staff. (See sample below) Keep in mind that if this Decision Grid is posted for staff to view, that the criteria cannot relate to confidential employee evaluation information such as tardies and medication errors.

Your criteria headings will be different from the book example; strive to make the criteria measurable and objective. This completed decision grid will serve as a visual process, which could be shared with staff. It is not necessary on a grid to name the nurse…in this example, the information is to be shared, so names are not required. In other decision-making tools, numbers or codes could represent each staff member, so that only that staff member knows how to identify himself or herself on the grid. Do not use confidential employee information as criteria, since this tool will be shared with staff.

Insert four criteria and assign points in the table below that will help you as the Leader objectively decide who goes to the Conference. One example criterion is already listed. No need to evaluate all 12 nurses; this is an example of how the table would appear. No answer required for shaded area below. Don’t stress over this! I want you to learn how to evaluate the nurses objectively that need to attend the conference since you will be their BSN Leader.

Nurses	Criteria/points (example) Active in Critical Care Org 4 points	Insert: Criteria/points	Insert: Criteria/points	Insert: Criteria/points	Insert: Criteria/points	Nurse’s Total Points xxxxxxxxxxxx
1	2
2	2
3	2
4	2
5	2
6	2
7	2
8	2
9	2
10	2
11	2
12	2

1. PROFESSIONAL WRITING – 5 POINTS

Before you submit, proofread for proper grammar, correct spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure.

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