Pam, a 34-year-old woman with fibroids, was clerked in yesterday by a fourth-year medical student on an obstetrics and gynecology rotation. Pam is scheduled to have surgery today for removal of the fibroids, and the consultant asks the student if she would like to scrub in to assist during the operation. The student has assisted […]
The asthma nurse at your surgery has asked you to come and review a 15-year-old girl 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 over […]
Anne is 68 and has had multiple sclerosis (MS) for more than 20 years. As a result, she is completely bed bound and requires full-time care in a nursing home. She saw her GP with a complaint of a change in bowel habits and rectal bleeding and was referred for a colonoscopy. Cancer was diagnosed […]
Scenario 1 A newly qualified nurse is cannulating a very intoxicated patient in the Accident and Emergency department (A&E). She misses the vein on the first attempt and whilst trying again the patient moves his arm away and she stabs the end of the cannula in her finger. The nurse washes her wound out for […]
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 has […]
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, […]
A 12-year-old boy being treated for osteosarcoma of the arm in the pediatric oncology unit where you are working as a first-year specialist trainee (ST1). Although he initially responded well to treatment, he has suffered a relapse and now has widespread metastatic disease. His parents have been told about his relapse and a further cycle […]
During your final year at medical school, you decide to attend the hospital’s clinical ethics committee meeting as you have an interest in medical ethics and would like to see what type of cases are brought for discussion. Tonight, a diabetes specialist nurse has presented a case of a 16-year-old girl who has suffered from […]
Patricia is 17 and has taken an overdose of paracetamol. She has been rushed to the Accident and Emergency department and doctors tell her that she needs urgent treatment; otherwise, she is at risk of permanent liver damage or death. Patricia refuses, she says her life is awful and she does not want to live […]
This patient 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 […]
Camille M. Renella, RN, CME, LNC
Clinical Medical Ethicist/Legal Nurse Consultant
Institute of Medicine Chicago (IOMC) Fellow
Executive Director