Contemporary Issue Position Essay: Is the Surgery Necessary Now? The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the ethical issues of the case “Is the Surgery Necessary Now? The Surgeon’s Conflicts of Interest” (Brody & Zientek, 2007), and to state my ethical position. I will define my position with legal, ethical, and professional evidence and propose strategies and solutions to address the issues in this case. Lastly, I will discuss how this case impacts my role as a future nurse practitioner.
The Issue and My Ethical Position The case is about Dr. Hendry, a neurosurgeon, who has been in his first year of practice. Dr. Hendry met his patient, Ms. Davis, who has been experiencing back pain in her right leg for more than a month that started when she bent down to pick up her grandson. Dr. Hendry examined Ms. Davis and noticed that her right leg is slightly weaker than her left with right foot drop. On Ms. Davis’ MRI, it showed that she had ruptured L5-S1 disk and mild degenerative changes (Brody & Zientek, 2007). Dr. Hendry explained the MRI results to Ms. Davis and gave her options to either have the surgery now or wait longer to see if her symptoms will resolve on their own. Ms. Davis’ response was that she thought she might need surgery and asked Dr. Hendry if surgery is what he
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The issue in this case is that Dr. Hendry is conflicted about how to answer Ms. Davis’ question, if they should schedule surgery. To me, this question is screaming for more information. This is when nurses and nurse practitioners’ role of patient advocates come into play. I truly believe that nurses and nurse practitioners are patient advocates, which have been an essential part of nursing for so long. As patient advocates, we protect our patients from harm, we communicate their preferences, we provide them important information to make informed decisions, and we support our patients regarding their choices and