You are working as an ST2 in a neonatal intensive care unit. You and your consultant are called to the delivery of baby Ayesha, who has just been born at 25 weeks following a normal pregnancy. When you arrive, she is not breathing spontaneously and has a slow heart rate. She is intubated and ventilated […]
A 72-year-old man is admitted to the intensive care unit. He was clearing out a gutter when he fell off the ladder and hit his head on the pavement. Passers-by immediately called an ambulance, and he was taken straight to theatre, where a large subdural hematoma was drained. Subsequent tests indicate that he fell from […]
A 19-year-old, during her pregnancy with her first child, drank heavily. All those who provided antenatal care gave her information about the risks that this posed to her unborn child and urged her to stop drinking or significantly reduce her intake. She did not do so, and her baby was born with fetal alcohol syndrome, […]
A 7-year-old boy is being treated for medulloblastoma, a type of brain tumor. He has had surgery and is due to start a treatment protocol that involves radiotherapy and chemotherapy. His parents (who were married at the time of his birth) are now separated, and although his father agrees to the treatment protocol, his mother […]
You are a physician specializing in family medicine. To celebrate your new job, your best friend and her husband have come to dinner. They have been having trouble conceiving and have had several failed IVF attempts. After dinner your friend takes you to one side and confides that the fertility clinic, they have been using […]
39-year-old is 16 weeks pregnant with her first child. Following her first trimester scan at 13 weeks she was informed that she was high risk for having a child with Down’s syndrome. She underwent further diagnostic testing in the form of amniocenteses which confirmed the diagnosis. The couple is distraught as they had tried for […]
Stevie 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 They tell the GP that he seems very withdrawn when he comes home from school, and a discussion with his teacher alerted them to the fact that he […]
This mom has had her 20-week anomaly scan and has discovered she is expecting another boy. This is her fourth pregnancy. She already has three sons and she and her husband decided to have another child in the hope of having a daughter. Sophie and her own mother had a very close bond growing up, […]
You are the doctor on call when you are called to the ward to see an elderly, confused man. He is wandering around and crying out. The nurses have tried persuading him to stay by his bed or at least in his bay, but he is refusing to listen to them. One female patient has […]
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 […]
Camille M. Renella, RN, CME, LNC
Clinical Medical Ethicist/Legal Nurse Consultant
Institute of Medicine Chicago (IOMC) Fellow
Executive Director