HLSC 220
HEALTH CARE ETHICS
ASSIGNMENT 1 Argumentative Essay
Due date: Week 6 Tuesday 1st September 2359 hours
Weighting: 50%
Length and/or format: 1500 words (+/- 10%)
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is for students to demonstrate the capacity
to develop an ethical argument/s based on the four ethical principles: autonomy,
justice, beneficence, and non-maleficence. Students will use their allocated topic to
develop a sound ethical argumentative opinion piece.
Assignment details: During the 1st week of lectures your tutor will allocate a topic for
discussion from the prescribed four options. Using the allocated topic given to you
construct an argumentative essay.
Learning outcomes assessed: 1 & 2
How to submit: Electronically via ‘Turnitin’ week 6 Tuesday 1st September 2359 hours.
Late submission will attract a penalty as per ACU assessment policy
Return of assignment: Marks and feedback will be published within 3 weeks in Turnitin
Assessment criteria: Marking will be undertaken using a ru
ic (see Appendix 1 in your
unit outline). Please include the word count of your assignment on the front page of
your assignment or in a header. Please note that in-text citations are included in the
word count whilst the reference list is not included in the word count. Words that are
more than 10% over the word count will not be considered Please see further
information in the section titled ‘Word Count’ in your unit outline.
Topics
1. Healthcare workers have a moral obligation to care for COVID19 patients and
cannot object to caring for these patients.
2. Organ retrieval should be performed on all deceased persons despite
objections from loved ones.
3. Expectant mothers who misuse alcohol and/or illicit drugs should be subject to
mandatory reporting requirements for child abuse.
4. Governments should have the authority to stop citizens from participating in
community activities when they refuse immunizations.
HLSC220 Argumentative essay – Points to consider
Ethical arguments are comprehensively informed by credible, well-chosen academic literature, &/or
professional codes & standards. Evidence of sophisticated level of critical thinking,
easoning, defence & evaluation. Ethical arguments (use of argument and/or counter arguments) are
cogent & always well defended.
The argument is organised in an exemplary manner: repetitiveness is avoided, the argument
flows succinctly, ending with a strong, comprehensive, & rational conclusion.
In addition to the ru
ic the content below are some guidelines for student consideration in
writing their argumentative essay. This is not an exhaustive list, but simply points for
consideration.
The bare minimum is that you should let the reader know the topic and introduce your stance on the
issue for example - “ this essay will address the options health care workers ( HCW) have in
confronting issues of violence against them and will show and reason why HCW ought to be able to
efuse care”.
Remember to clarify your understanding of the topic and key terms or concepts used – do not
assume the reader knows – the examiner wants to know that you know.
A good argumentative essay considers the counter arguments against the position taken and seeks
to defend them with reasoning and logic and always with reference to the literature. Failure to do so
cannot be considered an argument – it is a one-sided account and unchallenged opinion even if well
sourced and referenced.
The essay must be ethically sound and constructed –it ought to provide a rich account of ethical
thought and justification based on sound ethical theories and priniciplism. Much of this is available
to you in the modules and Leganto reading list in the same tile. Where necessary you might choose
to reinforce arguments with professional codes, and legal considerations.
Communicating based on an “emotional account” can detract from the essay as the write is
communicating on a personal stake on the topic and thus is invested in that emotion. It is better to
give example and support the example with the literature in mind. However, you can obviously draw
the reader to your argument by providing strong ethical, conventional, and contemporary
arguments that support your stance.
As always in any essay the following points ought to be respected:
• paragraph construction
• Flow of argument
• Avoiding repetitive statements
• Considering the literature and carefully providing sources used
• Consider using the literature to point of redundancy – i.e. you read the same view in other
sources
• A good argument is well supported with the literature and this ought to be provided from
multiple sources
• There is no required number of reference sources. The lower the volume of evidence will
arely make for a salient essay
• You should summarise your stance and argument in the conclusion
• Do not introduce new material in this section (Conclusion)
• Remember the requirements for presentation in terms of spacing, font size and structure
available to you from ACU academic skills unit
• If you do use clinical examples, they ought to be reflective of your ethical argument
• Finally it is required that you write in the 3rd person
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RT 202060