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Ethical Decision Making Process And Dilemma Essay

¶ … Decision Making with Providers The scenario facing Mike, the lab technician, is that of lateness, which attracted a reprimand from his supervisor. Seemingly, lateness had become a trend to Mike while reporting to work and that is why the supervisor had questioned him. He had made a promise that he would be punctual, the last time his supervisor questioned him. Mike's promise pegged on the importance he attached to his job because he was the sole breadwinner for his wife and newborn baby. Mike was overwhelmed by the thought that his job would be terminated in the possible reoccurrence of his tendencies to come to the workplace while late. He had received the assurance his supervisor (Grand Canyon University, n.d.).

On this day, Mike tries his best to reach work on time. Therefore, he leaves home twenty minutes before time but unfortunately, there was an accident on his commute. Although some time is lost, he manages to arrive just before official reporting time. However, upon arrival, he sees a spill on the hospital floor. He is confronted by a hard decision to make, either to stop and ensure the spill is cleaned up to avoid any possible accidents, or ignore and proceed to clock in for work. A stop to take care of the spill meant that he would be late and risked being fired from work. He was still justified to ignore the spill since it was in another work area and could be cleaned by another person as he proceeded to clock in (Grand Canyon University, n.d.).

Consequences of a failure to report

Mike's failure to report the spill on the flow in the main lobby meant that he was acting out of fear of his supervisor's threat to terminate his job. Therefore, he goes ahead to...

Punctuality also meant that he would finish the pending work from the previous day and work on his day's assignment. From this decision, he would be assuming that someone else was taking care of the spill in the lobby (Grand Canyon University n.d.).
The consequence of Mike's failure to report the spill was an accident involving a woman who falls in the lobby. She broke her hip after the fall and appeared to be in a lot of pain. It is obvious to Mike that the accident was caused by the spill that he saw and neglected after fearing that he would be late. He learns of the whereabouts of the patient's accident when he is sent to her room to gather some information. The patient appears disturbed wondering why she had an accident in a hospital, a place she considered safe. She wonders whether the hospital had any programs in place to prevent such occurrences (Grand Canyon University)

The patient innocently questions Mike without knowing that he was in a position to stop the accident that very morning. Mike is guilty because he could have prevented the accident if he had not acted out of fear and assumption. The consequence of failure to report the spill predisposes Mike to another dilemma: he wonders whether to admit to his supervisor what had happened on his arrival to work that morning. However, the admission still had a possible consequence of his termination from work, something that he had feared a lot (Grand Canyon University, n.d.).

Impact of Mike's Decision on the Patient's Safety, Risk of Litigation, Organization's Quality Metrics, Workload of other Hospital Departments

Mike's decision…

Sources used in this document:
References

Dlugacz, Y.D., Restifo, A., & Greenwood, A. (2004). The quality handbook for health care organizations: a manager's guide to tools and programs. San Francisco (CA): Jossey-Bass.

ECRI Institute. (July 2009). Risk Management, Quality Improvement, and Patient Safety. Healthcare Risk Control .

Grand Canyon University. (n.d.). Allied Health Community. Retrieved September 5, 2014, from Scenario: Critical Decision Making for Providers. Mike, Lab Technician: http://lc.gcumedia.com/hlt307v/allied-health-community/allied-health-community-v1.1.html.

Kuhn, A.M., & Youngberg, B.J. (2002). The need for risk management to evolve to assure a culture of safety. Qual Saf Health Care, 11 (2), 158-62.
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