Discussion postHealthcare ethics

Ethics Week 2 Discussion 2 Discussion

A five-step framework applied to your own values and choices. The third step carries the others, because everything downstream assumes you noticed that a decision was there to be made.

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 22, 2026

Written by

Maren Caldwell

MSN, RN, CNE

Medical-surgical nursing, pharmacology and NCLEX preparation

Reviewed by

Dr. Tessa Redmond

DNP, RN, CNE

Evidence-based practice and clinical education

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Interpret the task
Assignment instructions
Deliverables
Proposed outline
Research plan
Reference shortlist
Final review

Recognising the bifurcation point is the load-bearing step

Use the framework rather than describing it, which means choosing one real situation and taking it through all five steps. The step that carries the others is Recognize, because the framework itself points at bifurcation points that are obscure as well as obvious, and that is the honest description of most nursing ethics. The dramatic dilemma announces itself; what does not is the moment you decide not to raise something, or accept an explanation you doubt, or say nothing when a colleague takes a shortcut. Those are decision points whether or not anyone experiences them as such, and the framework's claim is that indifference and avoidance are the reasons they get missed rather than ignorance. Choosing one of those quiet moments rather than a dramatic dilemma is what makes the post worth reading, because the framework earns its place exactly where a nurse would otherwise have noticed nothing.

Work the other steps properly too, since each does a different job. Read is about grounding the response in something beyond instinct, which means the code and the ethical approaches rather than general reading. Reflect is unusually specific in this framework: it asks you to examine your own egocentric attachments, meaning the values, intentions and motivations that are yours rather than the patient's, which is uncomfortable and is the point. Resolve is where you commit to a course, and Respond is where you act and deal with what follows, including the cost, since raising a concern is rarely free and a post that ends at the decision has stopped before the hard part. Choose a situation with a real cost attached, describe what you actually did or would do, and be honest if you did not act at the time, because the framework is a tool for the next occasion rather than a test you pass retrospectively.

Likely learning objectives

Apply a framework to one situation rather than describing it.
Recognise obscure ethical decision points as well as obvious ones.
Examine your own motivations as distinct from the patient's interests.
Follow the framework through to the consequences of responding.

Assignment instructions

Read the full question

Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

Apply the framework of The Five R’s approach to ethical nursing practice from this week’s reading to answer the questions about values and choices. FIVE (R)ULES BOX 2-6 The Five Rs Approach to Ethical Nursing Practice 1. Read: Read and learn about ethical philosophies, approaches, and the ANA’s Code of Ethics for Nurses. Insight and practical wisdom are best developed through effort and concentration. 2. Reflect: Reflect mindfully on one’s egocentric attachments—values, intentions, motivations, and attitudes. Members of moral communities are socially engaged and focus on the common good. This includes having good insight regarding life events, cultivating and using practical wisdom, and being generous and socially just. 3. Recognize: Recognize ethical bifurcation (decision) points, whether they are obvious or obscure. Because of indifference or avoidance, nurses may miss both small and substantial opportunities to help alleviate human suffering in its different forms. 4. Resolve: Resolve to develop and practice intellectual and moral virtues. Knowing ethical codes, rules, duties, and principles means little without being combined with a nurse’s good character. 5. Respond: Respond to persons and situations deliberately and habitually with intellectual and moral virtues. Nurses have a choice about their character development and actions. What are values? Q. What are your personal values? Q. Why do you value them? Q. What are the values in your society? Q. How do you make choices? Q. Are your choices based on your values? Q. What values are useful in society? What are the limits to personal choice? Q. Who limits your choices? Q. Are limits to choices good? Q. Do you limit other people’s choices? Q. Should the health care organization or the government limit people’s choices? If so, how, and under what circumstances? In your responses to peers, feel free to agree, disagree, question, compare, and discuss each other’s responses in a way that fosters thoughtful and respectful dialog. You may also address the following: Did any responses surprise you? If so, how? Did reading your peers’ responses to the questions expand your own view of ways to answer questions? Finally, consider this: A common idea in health care is that if you are drawn to health care as a profession, you are inherently guided by an inner compass that is composed of a strong moral framework. Why is this a dangerous assumption? You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes. Ethics Week 2 Discussion 2 Discussion Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages. Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor. The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

Turn the brief into deliverables

01One real situation carried through all five steps.
02Grounding in the code or an ethical approach at the Read step.
03An honest examination of your own attachments at the Reflect step.
04An obscure decision point identified at Recognize.
05A committed resolution and an account of the response.
06The cost of responding, stated.