Policy will always be a guiding force behind my practice, as it not only regulates what I can and cannot do, but it will also direct me as I support the health care rights of my patients. Policy can be a gray area, and so ethical dilemmas will often arise. Whether they are "hot button" topics such as abortion or right-to-die, or personal held beliefs in regards to issues that run alongside cultural or religious/spiritual beliefs, a provider must set aside personal opinion and seek to put the patients’ health and desires first.

Throughout my career as a nurse, I have run into multiple issues regarding patient care that at times were quite distressing and would create significant division among the healthcare workers in a single ICU. Just a few of those are outlined in both the “Ethical Dilemma” and “Life Support” assignments included here. Even in my own clinical practice, I sometimes find myself having to suppress my personal feelings, trying to remain as objective as possible when providing care though I might not agree with the patients' choices.

There are also times as a primary care provider in military medicine that I must help my patients through the long and difficult process of a Medical Evaluation Board (MEB) that can make the difference between staying on active duty or ending a career long before the service member had planned. There are numerous medical-legal documents that dictate how an MEB is convened, and it is my job as a provider to understand them so that I will know what I need to perform and/or document to best assist the service member. I have already been involved in several MEBs during my clinical time, and each case provides new and unique challenges that must be overcome. The example provided is a glimpse of what might be required of me during a single MEB.