Elva, a 370-lb, 62-year-old woman, is in a nursing home after complications of diabetes and several small strokes. although she has been overweight all her life, she now is at a weight where it is unsafe to transfer her without a bariatric lift. Elva, however, refuses to be moved with it, claiming, "i’m not a piece of meat." She can be transferred to a chair with the assistance of four or five staff members. The administration, however, is worried that the staff could be injured physically while moving her. Her daughter insists that it is a violation of elva’s dignity and an unnecessary compromise of her autonomy to submit her to "the indignity of the mechanical lift." you are the supervisor of the unit. What ethical principles presented in this chapter can help you to assess what to do in this situation? What should you do?
