Review of the Facts: I am a member of the board for Delta-Resurrection Hospital. This hospital formed as a result of the merger of a private profit making hospital with a non-profit Catholic hospital, the new hospital is now a private non-religious entity. Our board is composed of members of a 50-50 ratio from both hospitals. After going to the ethics committee, a proposal has been offered to the board to amend a “conscience rule” that was put in place by the chief of staff early after the merger. This conscience rule allows any staff member who might be selected to perform abortions in the reproductive clinic to ‘opt out’ of the procedure due to their own personal and moral beliefs. The question that has been bought to the me is whether to keep this rule. This rule would allow staffers to opt out, thus causing shortage of employees, patients to suffer, and possible opening more doors for staffers to opt out of other treatments and procedures. The other question being raised is to accept a new rule which put abortion procedures in the same category as any other medical treatment, which did not allow for staffers to fail performing their duties as assigned. My job as a mem

ber of the board is to reach a conclusion concerning this proposal.

Solution #1: If I choose to vote to get rid of this conscience rule, I believe that the shortage of the employees would stop, patients would not necessarily need to be rescheduled, every patient would be treated with the same respect, and the health care professionals would not be placing their own beliefs ahead of the patient, possibly making a better reputation for the hospital. Getting rid of this conscience rule could also cause some employees to leave, and/or become uncooperative based upon the idea that the hospital is forcing these staffers into doing something that they don’t want to do or believe in, possibly causing some bad care being done to the patients, and not showing their work to the best of their ability.

Autonomy is the biggest value in question here. There are some areas of health care that afford the nurse the ability to practice autonomy such as a Homecare or Hospice nurse. However, if these employees in my hospital are allowed the luxury of autonomy as making decisions to participate in the procedures or not, they could potentially violate the patient’s autonomy.

Some topics in this essay:
Homecare Hospice, Code Ethics, Impact Solution, Upheld Sacrificed, Delta-Resurrection Hospital, Conflict Issue, conscience rule, health care, solution #1, reproductive clinic, Board” Review, move floor, harm safety, care professionals, free expression, patient’s autonomy, patient regardless, health care professionals, Nursing Code, , amend conscience rule, doing conscience rule, nursing code ethics, rid conscience rule,