The document discusses the Terri Schiavo case as a milestone assignment for a bioethics course. It analyzes the case through the lens of bioethics. The case involved the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube, which sparked debate around issues of patient autonomy and end-of-life decision making. The analysis finds that political and legal stakeholders inappropriately involved themselves in what should have been a private family matter. It concludes that the inclusion of outside parties compromised the ability to make decisions in the best interests of the patient.

1. Final
Final Project II Guidelines and Rubric Overview Healthcare professionals provide support
throughout the cycle of life, from birth to death. They have an obligation to provide humane
and compassionate care to patients while adhering to their specific field’s code of ethics.
Sometimes, healthcare professionals are privy to discussions between family members
regarding end-of-life issues. In some instances, a healthcare facility may be in charge of
providing information about advance directives to patients. Healthcare professionals should
calibrate their own moral beliefs to align with their ethical and legal obligations. By
studying issues contained within real-life cases, healthcare professionals can come to terms
with their beliefs and obligations relative to end-of-life issues. For Final Project II, you will
submit a draft of your essay for your Milestone Three assignment, which will be submitted
to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. This milestone draft will be
submitted in Module Six. The final product will be submitted in Module Eight. In this
Analyze bioethical issues faced by various healthcare professionals for their impact on
decision making Prompt In this project, you will analyze the Terri Schiavo case through the
lens of the bioethical issue(s) related to the case. You will analyze the case to address what
the bioethical issue is and what role end-of-life issues, such as self-determination and
advanced directives, played in the case. Using your analysis, you will determine how this
bioethical issue impacted the decisions made by the healthcare professionals involved in
the case. Your essay must address the following critical elements: I. II. III. Introduction:
Describe the provided case, including information on the stakeholders involved, the
bioethical issue, and the time period of the incident that occurred. Bioethical Analysis:
Analyze the bioethical issue for the role end-of-life issues played in the case. Be sure to use
appropriate terminology and support with secondary research. Conclusion: Describe how
the bioethical issue influenced the decisions of healthcare professionals involved in the
case. Be sure to use specific examples. 1 Milestones Milestone Three: Draft of Final Project
II: Bioethics In Module Six, you will analyze the Terri Schiavo case through the lens of
bioethics. You will address what the bioethical issue is and what role end-of-life issues, such
as self-determination and advanced directives, played in the case. Using your analysis, you
will determine how this bioethical issue impacted the decisions made by the healthcare
professionals involved in the case. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Three
Rubric. Final Submission: Bioethical Short Paper In Module 8, you will submit your final
project. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical elements of

2. the final product. It should reflect the incorporation of feedback gained throughout the
course. This submission will be graded with the Final Project 2: Bioethics Rubric. Final
Project II Rubric Guidelines for Submission: Your bioethical short paper should be a 1- to 2-
page Microsoft Word document formatted with 12-point Times New Roman font and one-
inch margins. All citations and references should be formatted according to the most recent
APA guidelines. Critical Elements Introduction Bioethical Analysis Exemplary (100%)
Proficient (85%) Needs Improvement (55%) Meets “Proficient” criteria, and Describes the
provided case, description provides exceptional including information on the insight into
the main stakeholders involved, the components of the case bioethical issue, and the time
period of the incident that occurred Meets “Proficient” criteria and demonstrates a
sophisticated understanding of the role that end-of-life issues played in the case Not
Evident (0%) Describe the provided case, but Does not describe the provided case
description is cursory or illogical, contains inaccuracies, or does not include information on
the stakeholders, bioethical issue, or time period of the incident Analyzes the bioethical
issue for Analyzes the bioethical issue for Does not analyze the bioethical the role end-of-life
issues played the role end-of-life issues played issue for the role end-of-life issues in the
case, utilizing appropriate in the case, but analysis is cursory played in the case terminology
and supporting with or illogical, contains inaccuracies, secondary research does not use
appropriate terminology, or is not supported with secondary research 2 Value 31.15 31.15
Conclusion Meets “Proficient” criteria, and Describes how the bioethical examples provided
demonstrate issue impacted the decisions of a complex grasp of how the healthcare
professionals bioethical issue impacted the involved in the case, and uses decisions of the
healthcare specific examples professionals in the case Describes how the bioethical issue
Does not describe how the impacted the decisions of the bioethical issue impacted the
healthcare professionals in the decisions of healthcare case, but description is cursory or
professionals involved in the case illogical, contains inaccuracies, or is not supported by
specific examples 31.15 Articulation of Response Submission is free of errors Submission
has no major errors related to citations, grammar, related to citations, grammar, spelling,
syntax, and spelling, syntax, or organization organization and is presented in a professional
and easy-to-read format Submission has major errors Submission has critical errors related
to citations, grammar, related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization
spelling, syntax, or organization that that negatively impact readability prevent
understanding of ideas and articulation of main ideas 6.55 Total 100% 3 1 IHP 420
Milestone Three Denise Vazquez Southern New Hampshire University 2 Introduction
Bioethics is the study of ethical, social, and legal issues that arise in biomedicine and
biomedical research (Bystranowski et al., 2022). The Teri Schiavo case is probably one of
the most controversial bioethics cases in the recent decade. Her feeding tube was removed
after a court ruled in favour of the same. Her death marked the final complication of a heart
failure that started on February 25, 1990 (Hook & Mueller, 2005). Teri’s ailment and demise
drew the attention of major legal, medical, theological, political, ethical, and social
stakeholders across the United States (Hook & Mueller, 2005). The family of Terri filed
petitions to bar the removal of the feeding tube with no success. Bioethical Analysis The
reason why the Schiavo case became popular is that it brought to the limelight the issues of

3. end-of-life choices. It defied the ethical principle of respect for patient autonomy
(Bystranowski et al., 2022). Her feeding tube was removed on March 18 and she died on
March 31, 2005 (Klugman, 2015). The bioethics issue in this case relates to the basis of the
removal of the feeding tubes (Hook & Mueller, 2005). At the baseline, the decision to
remove the feeding tube was not based on Terri’s or her family’s interests (Hook & Mueller,
2005). It was informed by political and monetary interests (Klugman, 2015). The political
and legal stakeholders saw the issue as an opportunity to further their monetary interests
at the cost of a family’s privacy and dignity. Conclusion Health and death decisions are
largely medical and personal-based. The inclusion of the political and legal stakeholders
compromises the overall viability of such decisions in the best 3 interests of the patient and
their family members. The physicians in this case failed to uphold the needs of the patient
by not participating fully in arguing for the rights of the patient. 4 References Hook, C. C., &
Mueller, P. S. (2005). The Terri Schiavo saga: The making of a tragedy and lessons learned.
Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 80(11), 1449–1460. https://doi.org/10.4065/80.11.1449
Bystranowski, P., Dranseika, V., & Żuradzki, T. (2022). Half a century of bioethics and
philosophy of medicine: A topic‐modeling study. Bioethics.
https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.13087 Klugman, C. (2015, February 11). Terri Schiavo: Ten
years later. Bioethics Today. Retrieved October 10, 2022, from
https://bioethicstoday.org/blog/terri-schiavo-ten-years-later/#