As the entire Lower Mainland gets ready to greet the world for the Olympics, nursing students gathered at the atrium last week to talk about the world.
The Health Care Ethics Forum hosted by this year’s nursing graduation class addressed health issues both local and international, from a presentation on the nursing shortage to a discussion on Haiti and its post-quake
condition.

Other presentations explored the ethics of multi-fetal reduction, termination of pregnancy as a result of genetic testing, withdrawal of care at the end of life, a patient’s refusal of treatment and transplant tourism.

Carina Wauthy, a nursing student at Trinity Western University, analyzed in-vitro fertilization, examining different perspectives on what may be at stake ethically – particularly the issue of sanctity of life, the autonomy of parents, property of one’s body, the issue of whether there is a “right” to parenthood and the hierarchy of the rights of life, freedom
and property.

Nursing students Rachel Thiessen and Monica Weaver explored ethical issues in public health, especially on mandatory government regulation of the HPV vaccine. They identified the ethical question of whether it is just to allow a vaccine that may interfere with personal religious beliefs and convictions.

TWU students also discussed global perspectives on health with Jenna Berkan and Becky Marsh, reflecting on health disparities of vulnerable people. The pair identified ethical issues of equity and justice at stake in a case of dual malnutrition (underweight children and overweight mothers) in a poor urban community in the Philippines.

Dr. Sheryl Reimer-Kirkham, the professor for which this forum was prepared, challenged students to present on how ethical frameworks (such as the Canadian Nurses Association’s Code of Ethics) can be applied to assist with decision-making purposes. This is especially relevant for nurses, whose work facilitates their encounter with patients from diverse backgrounds and belief systems.

Importantly, the forum emphasized the importance of intellectual ethical discussion and analysis on controversial issues, providing students with a venue for discussion and critical thinking on everything from the beginning to the end of life.