Ethics at Work
Volume 20, Number 4 Fall 2003

Article Summaries

No Easy Answers by Judith Allen Shelly
The editorial defines an ethical dilemma as “a situation with no good alternatives” and provides a systematic approach to ethical decision making.

Playing God: Moral Tensions in Health Care by Barbara J. White
Setting the context with a personal ethical dilemma, White outlines key questions to consider when facing a moral quandary. When does life begin and when does it end? What does it mean to be human? What is a good death? When is enough, enough? Just because we can do it, should we do it? What is the right thing to do?
     Advanced technology creates an abundance of ethical dilemmas. Stem cell research, human cloning, and the rising cost of health care are issues to be considered. Certainly technology will continue to accelerate.
     A Christian response must examine God’s character amidst the dilemma to make a significant difference.
Discussion Questions

Moral Integrity: Faithful Living in a Fallen World by Patricia Emery
Using the example of a nurse falsifying her time sheet and God’s standards, Emery examines issues of integrity. Three steps guide us. First, determine your core values. Second, communicate your values, even it if costs you. Third, align your life with your core values.
     Emery also suggests seven principles of integrity: 1) consistently walk your talk; 2) keep your promises; 3) be honest with yourself and others; 4) freely admit your mistakes; 5) stand up for what you believe is right; 6) be available and approachable; 7) help others whenever possible.
Discussion Questions

Caught! Charting Ahead by Kathleen Eaton
Eaton shares her story of charting ahead and how being caught changed her life. For years she lied to herself, justifying her actions and failing to see them as wrong. God used the circumstances of a gracious employer to open Eaton’s eyes to the error of her ways. Eaton writes to apologize to the nursing profession and also to encourage others in similar circumstances.
Discussion Questions

The Ethic of Care: A Christian Perspective by Diann B. Uustal
Uustal believes that each Christian nurse embodies the ethic of care, providing care based on a sense of gratitude for God’s grace. Uustal asks readers to consider what constitutes care, essentially to: 1) show up; 2) shut up--be fully present; 3) seek their story; 4) suspend judgment; and 5) stick with them.
      This requires energy, mutual relationships and time away from the pressures of care-giving. Each of us needs to experience the ethic of care in our own lives.
Discussion Questions

A Listening Heart by Donna Trimm
Trimm tells of her experience with a woman who seems distant and unfriendly. When the woman’s husband dies in an accident, Trimm responded as a nurse and as a Christian. For the next year she phoned the grieving woman weekly. She learned that listening is more important than saying the right words.
Discussion Questions

Human Cloning: Investigating the Issues by Donal P. O’Mathuna
O’Mathuna brings clarity and insight to a difficult issue. He discusses the differences between therapeutic cloning and reproductive cloning. He outlines the current state of cloning research and stem cell research, cutting through the name games associated with cloning. He states, “The central ethical debate is the moral status of the human embryo.

Medical Futility: When Is Enough, Enough? by Susan A. Salladay
Salladay makes a clear distinction between medical futility and euthanasia stating, “Treatment that prolongs life must be clearly distinguished from treatment that prolongs the dying process.” She also states that hospitals need to have a clear policy on medical futility.

A View from the Combat Zone by Norma R. Small
Small recounts her Vietnam nursing experiences in this first of six articles of Nurses In War. She points to Augustine’s Principles of a Just War as a basis for Christians severing in the military.

War Within & Without by Esther Grace Morris
The second article in Nurses in War series looks at Ephesians 6 and the armor of faith in an effort to prepare for the battles that occur in war. Some battles are physical. Some are mental and some are spiritual. Each battle requires the whole armor of God.

Navy Nurse: A Call to Lay Down My Life by Sr. Mary Elizabeth O’Brien
In part three, O’Brien explores the history of the Navy Nurse Corps and relates how she was drawn to military nursing by three things: the words of the oath taken by all military personnel, the philosophy of a Just War and consideration of a passage from the Gospel of John.
     The article includes a touching story of a navy nursing student caring for an enemy soldier.

Remembering Vietnam by Dorothy Oswald
In part four, Oswald describes joining the Army as a fourth year nursing student, having always dreamed of being in the military. However, when her letter of appointment arrived, she wondered if it was right for a Christian to go to war.
      Years later she still feels torn about whether Christians should enter the military.

Pursuing Peace in a World at War by Arlene B. Miller
The fifth article in the Nurses in War section takes a different view on Augustine’s Just War theory. Miller outlines biblical precedents and questions the mixed motives of war in her objection to military service.
      The Characteristics of a Peace Church are included in a sidebar.

Edith Cavell: WWI Nurse, Hero, Martyr by Marcena Walker
The final article in this section provides a historical perspective from WWI. Edith Cavell hid soldiers as part of an underground network aiding Allied troops. The choice cost her life.
     Walker also provides a side bar with information about nursing reforms in Belgium that were part of Nightingale Nursing.

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