Final Paper

The final assignment for this course is a Final Paper. The purpose of the Final Paper is for you to culminate the learning achieved in the course by applying your knowledge in the field of health care ethics and medical law through the analysis of an actual case regarding an ethical dilemma.

Focus of the Final Paper
Review the three scenarios below. Choose one of them and address the questions asked within your selected scenario in the form of a written analysis.

Scenario No. 1: HIPAA Privacy Rule
Case Study: Imagine that you are the privacy officer for a small town hospital. You receive a report that there is a breach of privacy. You are informed that a 15-year-old girl is received at the emergency with an emergency labor. The baby is delivered in the emergency room as there is no time to move the patient to the obstetrics (OB) department. In addition to the emergency delivery, the baby is born with multiple medical problems. Once the mother and baby are moved to obstetrics and neonate, care is given to both.

The OB nurse who took care of the mother and baby completes her shift, and she goes home to her own daughter to have a talk with her. She sits her daughter down and pleads with the girl to tell her if she ever has any problems, especially when it comes to pregnancy. The nurse tells her daughter the story about the young patient who delivered that evening, and she accidentally mentions the patient’s name. The patient’s name is one of those odd names that immediately triggers the nurse’s daughter to relay that she knows the patient. The mother/nurse, realizing that she made a big mistake by mentioning the patient’s name, pleads with her daughter not to say anything. Needless to say, word shoots through the four high schools in the town the next day.

The nurse returns to work the following evening, and she contacts you to hand in her badge and keys, stating that she knows she made a mistake by breaching the young patient’s privacy and she knows she is going to be fired. In addition to the breach of the obstetrics nurse, you learn that the patient hid her pregnancy from her family, and to make matters worse, her aunt and mother are both nurses at the hospital. You know both of these nurses on a professional and personal level.

Scenario No. 1 HIPAA Privacy Rule Project Assignment:
Research the HIPAA Privacy Rule here:

• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2013). Health Information Privacy. Retrieved from http://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/guidance/introduction/index.html

Then, perform additional research regarding the HIPAA Privacy Rule and prepare your Final Paper by analyzing the issues through these questions in regards to the above scenario:

• Analyze the specific requirements needed to perform this investigation.
• Identify whether this incident was an actual breach of privacy according to the HIPAA law.
• Examine the differences and similarities between the hospital’s stance and HIPAA as to whether the nurse should be fired from her job.
• Explain why you would fire or not fire the nurse immediately or whether you would put her on administrative leave awaiting the details of the investigation.

Scenario No. 2: DNR
Project Assignment: Review your State Government’s website and search for its official Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) Form. Along with the form will be information and instructions regarding the form. In addition, research three area hospitals to determine if they provide separate DNR forms. Then, perform additional research regarding DNR and prepare your Final Paper by analyzing the issues through these steps:

• Analyze the requirements of your State Government’s DNR.
• Identify the requirements of the three hospital’s DNRs.
• Examine the differences and similarities between the state’s and the three hospital’s DNR requirements, and address the following questions:
• What are they?
• Which one should you follow?
• Explain how a DNR is applied if a patient is under hospice care and EMTs are called.

Scenario No. 3: Institutional Code of Ethics
Project Assignment: Codes of ethics are standards that outline how individuals or groups of people are to act. The healthcare/medical community has its own code of ethics, which is outlined in the American Medical Association’s Code of Medical Ethics. Review the following:

• AMA’s Code of Medical Ethics here:

• American Medical Association. (2013). AMA’s code of medical ethics. Retrieved from http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/medical-ethics/code-medical-ethics.page.

• Three local or regional hospitals’ codes of ethics.
• Various scholarly research on healthcare codes of ethics (at least seven additional sources).

Then, prepare your Final Paper by analyzing the issues through these steps:

• Analyze the specific requirements of a code of ethics.
• Identify three critical elements of the AMA’s code that you believe are most important.
• Examine the differences and similarities between the AMA’s Code of Medical Ethics requirements and the code requirements of the three hospitals that you researched.
• Explain why certain individuals and/or groups (please name these) should follow a hospital’s code of ethics. 

Writing the Final Paper
The Final Paper:

• Must be eight to ten double-spaced pages in length, excluding title and reference pates, and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a title page with the following:
• Title of paper
• Student’s name
• Course name and number
• Instructor’s name
• Date submitted
• Must begin with an introductory paragraph that has a succinct thesis statement.
• Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought.
• Must end with a conclusion that reaffirms your thesis.
• Must use at least eight scholarly sources that were published within the past five years, including a minimum of four from academic journals found in the Ashford University Library.
• Must document all sources in APA style, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a separate reference page, formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.