Story Posted: 2025-03-18
Balancing Duties and Rights
St. Paul’s Hospital’s Ethicist Dr. Mary Heilman presented at the February 19, 2025 Ethics Exchange on “Balancing the Duty to Care and the Right to Refuse Unsafe Work.” Her presentation explored the duty to provide care outlined in the Canadian Nurses Association Code of Ethics as well as the Occupational Health and Safety legislation around the right to refuse unsafe work. Using a case study, she encouraged participants to ask a series of questions when considering whether care should be offered in the moment or if it could be reasonably delayed until it can be offered safely. The full video is available below.