Question

Preface:  The hospital where you work is at maximum capacity; every bed is occupied on every unit. The emergency department (ED) is full, and patients waiting for admission are being held in the hallways. Their family members are beginning to complain loudly to the ED staff. You have just left a meeting where everyone has been informed that the ED is not able to divert patients to other hospitals. Patients awaiting admission from the ED will be sent to the nursing units within the next three hours. You are the nurse manager of a progressive care unit where all patients are monitored for their cardiac rhythms. You have been asked to admit patients to your unit and place them in the alcoves at the end of each hallway. Rental beds and privacy screens will be delivered within the hour.

QUESTION:  Decide if this is an ethical or legal dilemma and support your reasoning. In your discussion how will you as the manager support quality patient care?

Answer 1

Ethical decision-making refers to the process of evaluating and choosing among alternatives in a manner consistent with ethical principles. In making ethical decisions, it is necessary to perceive and eliminate unethical options and select the best ethical alternative.

• Place the patient in waiting room
• Firstly triage the patient according to their severity of condition.
• Provide care only to patients with emergencies.
• Admit the other patient to the concerned departments.
• Provide alternatives for primary care of the uninsured.
• Stop boarding admitted patients in the Emergency Department.
• Use evidence-based guidelines to address imaging over utilization.
• Expand Hospital Capacity.
• Stop regulating hospitals to the extreme.