In the medical field, the line between what’s the right and what’s wrong can become blurred.

To help make ethical choices, students studied ethical issues in Nursing III. Writing Pro/Con style essays, Nursing teacher Sara Hartwich wants students to see different perspectives of moral issues they might have to decide on in their future careers.

“I decided to do this project because in whatever path they take in the health care field, they will come across patients, clients, [or] residents, that may or may not agree with their ethical values,” Hartwich said. “These things are very real and are happening in our society today, so I want them to be able to see both sides of the debate and the issue so they can be better health care providers.”

Problems like stem cell research, organ transplants and when to take a person off life-support are some of the issues that students covered.

“For my topic I chose abortion. I would obviously see this if I were a doctor,” junior Mariel Batara said. “This will definitely make me a better health professional because this concept is prevalent in hospitals/health care settings so it is helpful to learn about it now rather than later.”

Students were expected to write persuasive essays about the issue of their choosing and where they stand. They were assessed on how well students were able to research and write about the topic.

“When I was writing mine I knew that it had to be as well-researched as possible,” junior Marivee Cadiz said. “These topics are so delicate and it’s hard to research them and make sure we represented both sides well.”

Essays were due on Friday, September 25 and Hartwich hopes that students will learn and grow to become ethically better future health care providers.

“There are always two sides, and we have to be able to learn how to take care of patients that do not agree with how we view things,” Hartwich said. “We cannot allow that to deter the quality of care that we give our patients.”