Assessment 1 Instructions: Applying Ethical Principles
Develop a solution to a specific ethical dilemma faced by a health care professional by applying ethical principles.
Describe the issues and a possible solution in a 3-5-page paper.
Introduction
Whether you are a nurse, a public health professional, a health care administrator, or in another role in the health
care field, you must base your decisions on a set of ethical principles and values. Your decisions must be fair,
equitable, and defensible. Each discipline has established a professional code of ethics to guide ethical behavior. In
this assessment, you will practice working through an ethical dilemma as described in a case study. Your practice will
help you develop a method for formulating ethical decisions.
Demonstration of Proficiency
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the course competencies
through the following assessment scoring guide criteria:
Competency 1: Apply information literacy and library research skills to obtain scholarly information in the field
of health care.
Apply academic peer-reviewed journal articles relevant to an ethical problem or issue as evidence to
support an analysis of the case.
Competency 3: Apply ethical principles and academic standards to the study of health care.
Summarize the facts in a case study and use the three components of an ethical decision-making
model to analyze an ethical problem or issue and the factors that contributed to it.
Discuss the effectiveness of the communication approaches present in a case study.
Discuss the effectiveness of the approach used by a professional to deal with problems or issues
involving ethical practice in a case study.
Apply ethical principles to a possible solution to an ethical problem or issue described in a case study.
Competency 4: Write for a specific audience, in appropriate tone and style, in accordance with Capella’s
writing standards.
Write clearly and logically, with correct use of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.
Write following APA style for in-text citations, quotes, and references.
Instructions
Note: The requirements outlined below correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. At a minimum, be
sure to address each point. In addition, you are encouraged to review the performance-level descriptions for each
criterion to see how your work will be assessed.
For this assessment, develop a solution to a specific ethical dilemma faced by a health care professional. In your
assessment:
Course Navigation
Assessment 1 Instructions: Applying Ethical Principles –…
1. Access the Ethical Case Studies media piece to review the case studies you will be using for this assessment.
Select the case most closely related to your area of interest and use it to complete the assessment.
Note: The case study may not supply all of the information you need. In such cases, you should
consider a variety of possibilities and infer potential conclusions. However, please be sure to
identify any assumptions or speculations you make.
Include the selected case study in your reference list, using proper APA style and format. Refer to
the Evidence and APA section of the Writing Center for guidance.
2. Summarize the facts in a case study and use the three components of an ethical decision-making model to
analyze an ethical problem or issue and the factors that contributed to it.
Identify which case study you selected and briefly summarize the facts surrounding it. Identify the
problem or issue that presents an ethical dilemma or challenge and describe that dilemma or
challenge.
Identify who is involved or affected by the ethical problem or issue.
Access the Ethical Decision-Making Model media piece and use the three components of the ethical
decision-making model (moral awareness, moral judgment, and ethical behavior) to analyze the ethical
issues.
Apply the three components outlined in the Ethical Decision-Making Model media.
Analyze the factors that contributed to the ethical problem or issue identified in the case study.
Describe the factors that contributed to the problem or issue and explain how they contributed.
3. Apply academic peer-reviewed journal articles relevant to an ethical problem or issue as evidence to support
an analysis of the case.
In addition to the readings provided, use the Capella library to locate at least one academic peer-
reviewed journal article relevant to the problem or issue that you can use to support your analysis of
the situation. The How Do I Find Peer-Reviewed Articles? library guide will help you locate appropriate
references.
Cite and apply key principles from the journal article as evidence to support your critical thinking
and analysis of the ethical problem or issue.
Review the Think Critically About Source Quality resource.
Assess the credibility of the information source.
Assess the relevance of the information source.
4. Discuss the effectiveness of the communication approaches present in a case study.
Describe how the health care professional in the case study communicated with others.
Assess instances where the professional communicated effectively or ineffectively.
Explain which communication approaches should be used and which ones should be avoided.
Describe the consequences of using effective and non-effective communication approaches.
5. Discuss the effectiveness of the approach used by a professional to deal with problems or issues involving
ethical practice in a case study.
Describe the actions taken in response to the ethical dilemma or issue presented in the case study.
Summarize how well the professional managed professional responsibilities and priorities to resolve the
problem or issue in the case.
Discuss the key lessons this case provides for health care professionals.
6. Apply ethical principles to a possible solution to an ethical problem or issue described in a case study.
Describe the proposed solution.
Discuss how the approach makes this professional more effective or less effective in building
relationships across disciplines within his or her organization.
Assessment 1 Instructions: Applying Ethical Principles –…
Discuss how likely it is the proposed solution will foster professional collaboration.
7. Write clearly and logically, with correct use of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.
Apply the principles of effective composition.
Determine the proper application of the rules of grammar and mechanics.
8. Write using APA style for in-text citations, quotes, and references.
Determine the proper application of APA formatting requirements and scholarly writing standards.
Integrate information from outside sources into academic writing by appropriately quoting,
paraphrasing, and summarizing, following APA style.
Example Assessment: You may use the following to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the
scoring guide would look like:
Assessment 1 Example [PDF].
Additional Requirements
Your assessment should also meet the following requirements:
Length: 3–5 typed, double-spaced pages, not including the title page and reference page.
Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.
APA tutorial: Use the APA Style Paper Tutorial [DOCX] for guidance.
Written communication: Use correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
References: Integrate information from outside sources to include at least two references (the case study and
an academic peer-reviewed journal article) and three in-text citations within the paper.
APA format: Follow current APA guidelines for in-text citation of outside sources in the body of your paper
and also on the reference page.
If you would like assistance in organizing your assessment, or if you simply have a question about your assessment,
do not hesitate to ask faculty or the teaching assistants in the NHS Learner Success Lab for guidance and
suggestions.
SCORING GUIDE
Use the scoring guide to understand how your assessment will be evaluated