Identify the legal and ethical dilemmas presented by the case.

legal and ethical dilemmas

Paper instructions:
Case Study:

Until recently, the risk of criminal prosecution for nursing practice was nonexistent unless nursing action rose to the level of criminal intent, such as the case of euthanasia leading to murder charges. However, in April 1997, three nurses at the Centura St. Anthony Hospital, outside of Denver, were indicted by a Colorado grand jury for criminally negligent homicide in the death of a newborn. Public records show that one nurse was assigned to care for the baby. A second nurse offered to assist her colleague in caring for the baby. A third nurse was a nurse practitioner in the hospital nursery. Because the baby was at risk for congenital syphilis, the physician ordered that the nurses give 150,000 units of intramuscular penicillin, which would have required five separate injections.

In relation to other problems the same day, the baby was subjected to a lumbar puncture, which required six painful attempts. To avoid inflicting further pain, nurse two asked the nurse practitioner whether there was another route available for the administration of the penicillin. Nurse two and the nurse practitioner searched recognized pharmacology references and determined that intravenous administration would be acceptable. The nurse practitioner had the authority to change the route and directed nurse two to administer the medication intravenously rather than intramuscularly. Unrecognized by the nurses, the pharmacy erroneously delivered the medication, prepared and ready to administer, in a dose ten times greater than was ordered—1.5 million units. As nurse two was administering the medication intravenously, the baby died. The Colorado Board of Nursing initiated disciplinary proceedings against nurse two and the nurse practitioner, but not against nurse one. The grand jury indicted all three nurses on charges of criminally negligent homicide but did not indict the pharmacist (Calfee & Plum, 1997).

Reference:

Calfee, B. E, & Plum, S. D. (1997). Nurses indicted: Three Denver nurses face prison
in a case that bodes ill for the profession. Retrieved from http://business.
highbeam.com/4397/article-1G1-19588498/nurses-indicted-three-denver-
nurses-face-prison-case

Support your responses with examples.

Cite any sources in APA format.

• Identify the legal and ethical dilemmas presented by the case.
• present a solution to the dilemma addressed in the case study
• Discuss (present arguments for and against) the solution by presenting the regulatory, criminal, or civil environment and concerns.
• Discuss the solution by presenting ethical concerns, and validate the process used to come to an ethical decision in the solution.
• Support your arguments with appropriate citations from current literature.
The introduction summarizes the case and solution
The identification of the case as an ethical dilemma of caring versus an ethical dilemma of justice is provided.
An identification and analysis of the regulatory, criminal, or civil environment or concerns is presented.
An identification and analysis of the ethical concerns is presented. Supporting evidence is presented for each point.
The conclusion summarizes the case, presents conclusions, but does not introduce new facts.
The conclusion is supported by the discussion.
Used APA style (which includes grammar, spelling, and punctuation, as well as formatting).
This paper is my final presentation in this class and it is worth half of my grade please make sure the rubric listed above is followed to the max.