Virtue Ethics

Sara, a 15-year-old girl, has suffered from leukemia since the age of 6 years. She has had multiple courses of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, all of which have failed. She is constantly in hospital and as such has had a disrupted education and little opportunity to make lasting friendships. She and her parents have accepted that further treatment is unlikely to be beneficial, and she wishes to return home to die in peace. Her doctors are unwilling to accept her decision as she is only 15.

• What is virtue ethics?
• Which virtues do you think would make a good doctor?
• Can virtue ethics be applied to this case scenario to offer guidance to the doctor about whether competent children should have the right to refuse life-saving treatment?

Apply Theory (Specific Professional Healthcare Competencies + Clinical Medical Ethical Principles) to Practice in order to provide Optimal Patient-Centered Care (OPCC)

Source – Ethics Case Studies from Clinical Ethics and Law (Second Edition), Carolyn Johnston Penelope Bradbury