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Bioethics Essay

Charles Cullen was a nurse who worked at several hospitals over 16 years and murdered as many as 400 patients by administering lethal doses of medication. He met nurse Amy Loughren at one hospital and they became friends. When the police began investigating suspicious patient deaths, Amy helped them gather evidence that implicated Cullen. Cullen confessed to murdering 29 patients, though the real number is believed to be higher. Amy's cooperation was important in stopping Cullen and upholding her duty as a nurse to protect patients. The case highlighted ethical issues around patient care, confidentiality, and hospitals' responsibilities.

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126 views2 pages

Bioethics Essay

Charles Cullen was a nurse who worked at several hospitals over 16 years and murdered as many as 400 patients by administering lethal doses of medication. He met nurse Amy Loughren at one hospital and they became friends. When the police began investigating suspicious patient deaths, Amy helped them gather evidence that implicated Cullen. Cullen confessed to murdering 29 patients, though the real number is believed to be higher. Amy's cooperation was important in stopping Cullen and upholding her duty as a nurse to protect patients. The case highlighted ethical issues around patient care, confidentiality, and hospitals' responsibilities.

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Justine Joye S.

Montera
2-F
Bioethics Essay
The Good Nurse

Imagine having someone who seems like a lifetime companion and a best friend,
someone who makes you feel safe and trust well enough to meet your family, someone who
goes out of his way to care for you only to find out that this special person is someone who
takes away other people’s lives. This leaves you puzzled like being stuck at a crossroads, torn
between two paths, each leading to a different moral outcome. This is the essence of ethical
dilemmas — complex situations that challenge our values and force us to make difficult
decisions.
Last year, I read an article and watched a movie called "The Good Nurse" which
surprisingly is based on the true story of Nurse Charles "Charlie" Cullen. Cullen has worked at
nine different hospitals, including Florida, Vance, Shawlands, St. Aloysius, St. Elizabeth, and
Parkfield, the setting for the film. The case revolves around questionable patient deaths and
later discovering that insulin and digoxin are circulating in a patient's system. In short, lethal
doses of medications have been administered, not directly to the patient, but to the patient’s
saline bag. Charlie Cullen met Amy, a woman he didn't expect to fall in love with. Amy
developed a good relationship with Cullen at the Parkfield Hospital, where they attended their
shifts together. The police then came to Amy to inform her about how suspicious Charlie was,
and when she confirmed it, she immediately went to the investigators and performed all
necessary actions to catch and stop the unlawful killings of Charlie Cullen. By the end of the
story, the police had captured Cullen, and it was Amy who made him confess to his crimes
Charles Cullen pleaded guilty to the murder of 29 people, and the real number of victims is
believed to be as many as 400, as he was a nurse for more than 16 years and his colleagues
and the hospital administration didn’t stop him despite having suspicions. In the end, Amy got a
heart transplant and now lives as a good nurse in Florida with her children and grandchildren.
The documentary is incredibly disturbing, as a student nurse. Looking back on this story,
there are several instances of ethical violations, particularly those committed by Charles Cullen.
The non-maleficence principle is one of the ethical standards that is not upheld. According to
the principle of non-maleficence, we should not hurt our patients. The patient received deadly
amounts of incorrect medicine from Charles Cullen; the insulin had an impact on the patient's
glucose level and the digoxin had an impact on the patient's heart. There are also some
unsettling instances where the rules of secrecy and privacy are broken. The medical file
pertaining to Ana Martinez's disputed death was provided to the investigators at this point
without first showing it to the family. When the detectives visit Amy's house to interview her, an
incident occurs when Amy unintentionally reveals the Kelly Anderson case. Additionally, the
hospitals' responsibility is not upheld. Charles Cullen was the subject of their suspicions, but
they refrained from taking any legal action that would have stopped his heinous deeds. There
are other instances where moral standards are upheld. St. Aloysius Hospital safeguarded
information up until a subpoena wasn't made visible to them. It demonstrates the value of
discretion. The idea of honesty that Amy demonstrated to the investigators is of utmost
importance. She cooperated with them and gave them the truth at all times, despite having a
connection with Cullen. She took action to halt Cullen's bad deeds. Work must be kept distinct
from traumas and private emotions. The detectives believed that Cullen performed awful deeds
because of his ex-wife or his mother, which I believe is the most crucial aspect I took away from
the case. Your actions will be motivated by anger, which will make you regret them afterward.
The greatest course of action to prevent immoral activities in the line of duty is to think things
through before acting and to avoid situations that can set you off. I will put those skills into
practice while I'm still a student nurse so that when I'm a registered nurse, I can provide quality
care.

References:
● Blanco, J. I. (n.d.-b). Charles Cullen | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers.

https://murderpedia.org/male.C/c/cullen-charles.htm

● Nolasco, S. (2022, December 2). ‘Killer Nurse’ Charles Cullen ‘had a darkness to him,’

recalls colleague who helped put murderer behind bars. Fox News.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/killer-nurse-charles-cullen-darkness-to-him-recalls-colleagu

e-helped-put-murderer

● Sky News. (2022b, October 31). Charles Cullen: The true story of a hospital killer and

'The Good Nurse' who brought him to justice. Sky News.

https://news.sky.com/story/the-good-nurse-the-true-story-of-killer-charles-cullen-and-the-

colleague-who-brought-him-to-justice-12729287

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