Ethics Assignment Group 5

Kimberley Poirier and Pooja Rampal

NFS 4950 Senior Seminar
November 3, 2014

Case Study:
Principles Relating to Dietetics Practice: At 4 pm on Friday, you receive a phone call from the
department secretary, who tells you, the director of nutrition services, that she has received a call
from a retired company executive who would like a copy of the renal diet for his neighbor. You
have no further information about the person, what do you do?
Questions:
A.
What is the purpose of the Academys Code of Ethics? (2 pts)
Its purpose is to regulate what is and is not acceptable for dieticians to do. The Code creates a set
of guidelines for dieticians to follow when practicing their skills in a professional environment,
including how to interact with clients, other professionals, and colleagues.
B.

Who does the Code apply to? (1 pt)

The code applies to RDs, dietetics technicians, DTRs, and to all the members of the Academy of
Nutrition and Dietetics.

C.

Which principles does your team view as the most important? Why? (2 pts)
Principle 1 as it tells the dietetics practitioner how to conduct him or herself with honesty,
integrity and fairness.
Principle 10 as it holds dieticians to the same confidentially agreements as doctors.
Principle 12 as it states that dieticians are to use evidence based theories when practicing
dietetics.
These principles set forth commitments and obligations of the dietetics practitioners to
the public, clients, and the profession.

D.
If you disagreed with the ethical behavior of an R.D., what course of action could
you take? (1 pt)
It would be best to refer to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' Code of Ethics and see if the
other dietician's actions coincide with that code. If their actions do, no action should be taken. If
their actions do not, the Academy's Ethics Committee should be notified in writing on the
appropriate form and if the person has a superior, they should be notified as well.
E.

Which of the 19 principles apply to your case study? (2 pts)

Principle 12 is applicable to this situation as it deals with using evidence and current information
to determine what the patient should eat. There is no more information on the retired company
executive's neighbor other than he or she supposedly needs a renal diet so a meal plan cannot be
created. Without the current information, we don't have the evidence needed to determine if a
renal diet is the correct plan of treatment.

F.
pts)

Perform the Tilt Method to decide on the best choice for the ethical dilemma. (5

Step 1 - What is the question?

Is giving out a meal plan without evidence of a renal problem ethical?
Step 2 - Two action options
Option One: Give the information to the retired executive.
Option Two: Don't give the information to the retired executive.
Steps 3 & 4 - Build a case for both options
Reasons for Option One:
The executive might be trying to help his neighbor get healthier
In helping the executive can help another person who is in need of assistance
In helping this person we could get more clients based on their testimonial
Reasons for Option Two:
Sharing the renal meal plan without current information could violate principle 12 in the
Academys Code of Ethics
Putting the person on the meal plan without any evidence and information could harm the
person's health.
By giving the renal diet to the person, a precedent could be set to give out diets without
having enough information to properly treat a person and that can result in adverse effects
in people's health and our firm being sued.
Step 5 - Tilt Factors & Decision
Tilt Factors:
The renal diet could potentially harm the person
Could set a precedent that could result in people being harmed
Could be a potentially violate principle 12 in the Academys Code of Ethics
Could be that the retired executive is trying to help his neighbor

Our Decision: Giving a copy of the renal diet to the retired company executive for his neighbor
could worsen the neighbor's condition. Without any evidence or the current information, this
would be an unwise decision. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' Code of Ethics also
supports our decision as principle 12 says that a dietetics practice should be based on evidence
and current information of the patient.