Ethics Scenario #33: Johnson City Hospital

33. Peter, a nurse practitioner, works for a nonprofit hospital that encourages its medical staff to volunteer at a nonaffiliated nonprofit community health center. Peter enjoys this volunteer work, but feels uncomfortable that the clinic is understaffed, pays salaries at a fraction paid to those in comparable positions at his hospital, and is starved for funds to pay for basic supplies of all kinds when the same materials are overflowing in the supply closets of the hospital. Just last week, he was unable to obtain the syringes he needed to administer flu shots to those in the community who were otherwise unable to afford them. Peter decides to make a list of the supplies needed by the clinic, and systematically, without drawing any attention to himself, siphon off small quantities of these supplies from his own employer each week and transfer them anonymously to the clinic.

a. Is Peter acting ethically?

b. Is Peter acting legally?

c. What alternatives might Peter pursue to his behavior if he had any qualms about carrying out his plan?