chapter 6 continue

an authority on ethics in medicine

she presents three general elements of ethics: duties , rights , and character traits

• ethical distress
• ethical dilemmas
• dilemmas of justice
• locus of authority issues

a problem in which a certain course of action is indicated but some type of hindrance or barrier preventss that action

example: a professional knows the right thing to do but for some reason cannot do it

I know which course of action I ( the agent) should take for the patients benefit but there is a structural barrier to my bein able to do it.

• A= agent
• C= course of action
• O= outcome

a situation in which an individual is faced with two or more acceptable or correct choices , but doing one precludes another.

being caught between a rock and a hard place

fair distribution of benefits to those who are entitled to them. choices must be made regarding who receives these benefits and in what proportion

examples: organ donations and distribution of scarce or costly medications

two or more authority figures have their own ideas about how a situation should be handled but only one of those authorites can prevail

• gathering relevant information
• identifying the type of ethical problem
• determining the ethics approach to use
• exploring the practical alternatives
• completing the action