Kara Ethical Dilemmas

1430 Words3 Pages

In the outlined scenario, it is clear that Kara is in an ethical dilemma. As in many of these cases, there are multiple courses of action that can all be seen as "ethical" depending on the lens through which the actions are seen through. Applying normative ethical theories, multiple courses of action can be taken. In addition, as an engineer, there are ethical codes outlined in the PEO Code of Ethics which can also be used as a guide towards making an ethical decision. Using these theories and guidelines does not help determine which is the correct solution. However, by combining the suggestions of the ethical theories, it appears that most ethical choice for Kara is to bring this situation to the attention of her supervisor and allow them …show more content…

One possible action is for Kara to inform her supervisor about the situation and work with that person to come up with potential next steps. Assuming Kara's supervisor is honest and knows more about company policies, this could lead to Kara making a decision that is better for the hospital as a whole and potentially also good for the students at the school. Speaking with the appropriate authorities in the school could lead to a decision that is best for the students, potentially putting the teacher's career in jeopardy and also putting the hospital in legal trouble for breaching patient confidentiality. Speaking with the teacher will probably result in a decision that is best suited to protect the teacher's career but may put the students in danger and similar legal issues from contacting the school directly. However, speaking to the teacher may also reveal other important information that may support that the teacher isn't actually a risk to the …show more content…

However, the difficulty with applying utilitarianism in this situation is that there are many ways to weigh the benefits in this scenario. If the hospital is weighed as a single entity and legal action to it as equal to the potential damage to any student in question, then it would appear that it would appear that the benefits for informing the school outweigh the drawbacks that come from hurting Kara and the hospital. However, one could also view the hospital as a large group of people including all the people in its care and employees. In this case, it would appear better to uphold the interests of the hospital by informing her

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