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24. Case: Changing Care and Care-Giving
View Case Study: 24. Case: Changing Care and Care-GivingKevin Henderson is an 83-year old man who is hospitalized in an internal medicine clinical unit at the local hospital. Kevin has a variety of serious medical conditions including severe Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, coronary artery disease and advanced chronic obstructive lung disease. He is slowly recovering from a difficult-to-treat pneumonia, which required treatment with intravenous…
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22. Case: Double Effect?
View Case Study: 22. Case: Double Effect?The following call comes in to the ethics line: “Hi. It’s Celine from Oncology. We have a patient here who is in the end stages of lung cancer and is in a lot of pain. The patient and his family are strongly Catholic. The patient’s pain doesn’t seem to be well-controlled. But the family won’t…
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19. Case: Craig’s Right to Choose?
View Case Study: 19. Case: Craig’s Right to Choose?Craig Renaldo is a 14-year old boy who was recently diagnosed with a right lower leg malignant vascular tumour. Staging investigations have been negative for distant metastases. Craig’s attending medical oncologist, Dr. Purvis, consults a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Mendes, who recommends a below-knee amputation. Dr. Purvis concurs with this recommendation given the aggressive nature…
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18. Case: When the “Truth” is Painful
View Case Study: 18. Case: When the “Truth” is PainfulMrs. Sally Parrot, a 73-year old widow, has mild dementia of a presumed neurovascular type. She resides in her own small apartment in Serenity, a private continuing care community in Bedford, where she receives some assistance with housekeeping, meal preparation and organization of her medications. Sally is actively engaged in Serenity’s structured activities and, in…
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17. Case: Too Much to Expect?
View Case Study: 17. Case: Too Much to Expect?92-year old Ellie MacPherson has recently moved to a long-term care facility. She had found that the increasing difficulty she was experiencing due to arthritis with getting dressed, making her meals and getting out of the house meant that she could no longer live on her own. Ellie brought a number of her favourite clothes…
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16. Case: Shifting Gears
View Case Study: 16. Case: Shifting GearsNedra has been fighting ovarian cancer for 3 years. When first diagnosed, Nedra had surgery followed by intensive chemotherapy. Although it initially looked like she might be moving into remission, things started to change about 6 months ago. Nedra started experiencing some bone pain and it was discovered that her cancer had metastasized. Although radiation…
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15. Case: Acceptable Judgement?
View Case Study: 15. Case: Acceptable Judgement?Sara Thornton, an unemployed 19-year old woman, lives with her 28 year old sister, Fran, and Fran’s boyfriend, Alan. Both sisters were diagnosed with bipolar I disorder in their mid-adolescence. They are both estranged from their alcoholic mother, the only living parent. Fran has learned to manage her illness reasonably well through lifestyle changes, participation…
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14. Case: I Want to Go Home!
View Case Study: 14. Case: I Want to Go Home!A widower (age 88) lives alone, but has family living nearby. Recently he had a stroke and regained consciousness after being admitted to hospital. He was deemed to have cognitive capacity. His adult children approached the physician in charge of his case along with the unit’s Nurse Manager and requested that the patient be placed…
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12. Case: Should Steve Go Home?
View Case Study: 12. Case: Should Steve Go Home?Throughout his life, Steve was the athlete that everyone admired. He played all sports well, especially excelling at basketball. While being quite competitive, Steve was a team player who enjoyed being a part of the team experience. Unfortunately, while ‘horsing around’ with his friends last summer, Steve dove off a dock into water that was…
Case Repository
Category: Respect for Autonomy
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