Code gray : ethical dilemmas in nursing
Joan Sawyer (Producer, Director, Author), Ben Achtenberg (Cinematographer, Film editor, Author), Christine Mitchell (Commentator, Author), Karen Wolf (Consultant, Author), Susan Reverby (Consultant, Author), Fanlight Productions, Icarus Films
In this documentary film, nurses in a variety of care settings confront serious ethical dilemmas which affect their patients. The film's four sequences involve the ethical principles of beneficence, autonomy, justice and fidelity. In Case 1 (Children's Hospital Medical Center, Boston, Mass.), the Primary Nurse and her associates in the nursery face conflicts regarding the proper care of a hydranecephalic newborn. In Case 2 (Eastwood Pines Nursing Home, Gardner, Mass.), the Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses staffing a rural nursing home must weigh the ethical considerations involved in applying mechanical and chemical restraints against the wishes of their patients. Case 3 (University of California Medical Center, San Francisco, Calif.), takes place in a busy general intensive care unit, where the Charge Nurse and other health team members debate their reasons for choosing to give more or less nursing care to particular patients. In Case 4 (University of California Medical Center, San Francisco, Calif.), a nurse reflects on the difficulties of caring for a dying woman and on the conflict between her loyalties to the patient and the patient's family. None of the incidents are resolved; viewers are encouraged to debate the issues
DVD Video, English, [2010]
Fanlight Productions ; Icarus Films [distributor], Boston, Mass., Brooklyn, NY, [2010]