Organizational Integrity and Trust

Weekly Objectives 1, 2, 3, and 4 are addressed in this discussion.

In order to post to this forum, complete the Week 5 readings.

Instructions:

You will be presented a scenario that prompts you to consider a potential ethical dilemma in your organization. You will discuss the circumstances in which personal and/or professional relationships with individuals are (or are not) relevant to organizational ethics.

Scenario: You recently assumed a nurse manager position. Your long-time friend and co-worker, whom you now supervise, is going through a stressful period in his/her personal life and has confided in you that s/he is getting help for this. Professionally, s/he is a highly competent RN who has taken on numerous responsibilities and leadership roles in the workplace. As a friend, you know that s/he has increased consumption of alcohol and recreational drugs lately and is not getting enough sleep. You’ve witnessed him/her making errors at work that did not result in patient harm but could have. You are concerned about patient safety on your unit. You feel obligated to address the situation, but you’re not sure how.

• Do you do anything to further assess the situation? Is there any more information you should have or do you already have what you need to respond?
• What is your leadership style? Explain how this influences your decision-making process in this scenario.
• Consider the influences of organizational culture and ethical climate in your discussion.
• What do you end up doing? Apply an ethical theory or framework to justify your position.
• Another RN you supervise has made errors of no significant consequence to patients on your unit, similar to your friend. You have very little knowledge of this person outside of a professional relationship. Do you handle this differently or the same as the situation with your friend? Explain.
• Respond to others’ positions by constructively arguing while discussing the ethical issues outlined in the positions.