Joe is on a busy ward round with his consultant. The round is post-take and he has seen 23 patients so far. One of his patients is septic and needs a prescription for intravenous antibiotics. The consultant tells Joe to put him on ciprofloxacin. However, Joe is aware that the hospital protocol has changed and […]
Pearl and Dean have been married for 12 years and have a 6-year-old son. Dean’s father and grandfather died from cancer when they were in their early 40s. Because of the strong family history of cancer, Dean wanted to have a genetic test to find out his level of risk. Although no clear diagnosis was […]
James, a 25-year-old white man with no symptoms, attends the genitourinary medicine clinic. He reports that Tom, his boyfriend of 2 years, has advised him to attend. He says Tom was diagnosed and treated for syphilis the week before at the same clinic. James has had no other partners since his last negative tests 2 […]
Daisy is a nurse working on an orthopedic ward. She has established a rapport with a patient, Janine, who has been admitted under the orthopedic team for surgical repair of a fractured wrist. Janine told the consultant that her injuries were sustained falling down the stairs. However, during a chat with Daisy, Janine asks ‘is […]
You are a Year 5 specialist trainee (ST5) in obstetrics. You have been asked to review a patient by her midwife. The woman is a 30-year-old Polish lady in labour named Greta. This is her first pregnancy and she is full term. The midwife has established that her husband is on his way in. Her […]
Cordelia, a 29-year-old woman, presents to the Accident and Emergency department in extreme pain. She fell over on AstroTurf in the afternoon the day before while playing hockey and grazed her knees. Her left knee is now extremely painful, swollen and erythematous, and she cannot bend her leg or weight bear. You suspect that she […]
You are the surgical FY1 on call. A patient comes in acutely unwell with severe abdominal pain. He is reviewed by your seniors, who tell him he needs an operation to investigate the cause of his symptoms. They ask you to obtain consent for laparoscopy and a laparotomy and proceed. When you see the patient, […]
Lilianna has booked in to see you at a walk-in family planning clinic. She has come to discuss contraceptive options as she is thinking about starting a sexual relationship with her boyfriend. She tells you that she has not had sex yet but they have talked about it and she would like to be sure […]
The asthma nurse at your surgery has asked you to come and review a 15-year-old girl, Shania, who has booked in to discuss her medication. She was diagnosed with asthma at the age of 6 and has had several admissions to hospital with severe asthma attacks. She is now at boarding school and feels that […]
Michael is 8 years old. His parents have brought him to see the GP as they are concerned that his ears are very prominent and stick out. They tell the GP that Michael seems very withdrawn when he comes home from school, and a discussion with his teacher alerted them to the fact that he […]
Camille M. Renella, RN, CME, LNC
Clinical Medical Ethicist/Legal Nurse Consultant
Institute of Medicine Chicago (IOMC) Fellow
Executive Director