Explain how learning about Henrietta Lacks’s story helped you become a more ethical leader.

During Skloot and Deborah’s meeting with Christoph Lengauer, he emphasizes the importance of Henrietta Lacks’s contribution to science and how she is remembered in the medical community. He states, “Whenever we read books about science, it’s always HeLa this and HeLa that. Some people know those are the initials of a person, but they don’t know who that person is. That’s important history.”

Write a 525- to 700-word article that addresses the following:

• Evaluate whether the book effectively illustrates the significance of Henrietta Lacks’s life, her contributions to science, and their impact on her family. Answer the following questions in your evaluation:
  • Are there problematic elements as to how Skloot portrays Lacks and her family?
  • Do you agree with Lengauer’s quote that it is important to know about Henrietta Lacks? Why or why not?
  • Explain how learning about Henrietta Lacks’s story helped you become a more ethical leader.
  • Provide 2 to 3 examples of what medical professionals can do to prevent unethical practices.

Use 3 examples from the book to support your response and cite the novel.

• HEENT— Assess outer ear and note surrounding tissue, shape, color, and any lesions. Assess the external ear for discharge or any odor. Assess for the placement of a foreign object in ear. Assess for tenderness on the outer ear near the auricle and mastoid. Tenderness could indicate a possible infection. Use otoscope to assess external and middle ear. At this time, assess for erythema, lesions, and discharge. Inspect tympanic membrane for perforations. Assess the frontal and maxillary sinuses for swelling. No tenderness or swelling over the soft tissue should be present. Assess tonsils and inside of mouth for lesions, erythema, and swelling.
• RESPIRATORY: Determine if upper respiratory infection is present, assess for clear lungs.

Diagnostic results:

• Whispered Voice- Determines if patient is able to hear whispering. If they do not pass this test, hearing loss could be assumed. (Ball, Dains, Flynn, Solomon, Stewart, et al., 2015, p. 241).
• Weber Test- Determines unilateral hearing loss (Ball et al., 2015, p. 241).
• Rinne Test- Determines if the patient conducts sound better through bone or air. The patient should hear the sound conducted through the air twice as long (Ball et al., 2015, p. 241)
• Culture of ear fluid (Attlmayr, 2015).

Differential Diagnoses

• Otitis externa
  • Often seen with individuals that swim. This infection is located on the outer ear. Pain is worse when an otoscope is inserted because sensitivity is on the outer ear. The outer portion of the ear is often inlamted and tender to touch. When inspecting the ear, the ear canal would appear narrow. Because of the narrowing, fluid is unable to drain from the ear (Rosenfeld et al., 2014).
• Otitis media
  • Otitis media is a middle ear infection that usually presents unilaterally, hearing loss is present, and tympanic membrane is pink. Pus often forms inside the ear, which could cause perforation of the tympanic membrane. Ear pain, fever, difficulty hearing, irritability, and lethargy can also accompany this diagnosis. While examining the ear with the otoscope, erythema, dullness, decrease light reflex, and bulging of the tympanic membrane (Nash, 2013).
• Eustachian catarrh
  • Often results after an upper respiratory infection. It would be essential to determine if the patient has has a recent upper respiratory tract infection. Fluid collects in the eustachian tube, which causes pain and trouble hearing (Nash, 2013).
• Cholesteatoma
  • The growth of a skin tag inside the ear, behind the ear drum. The patient could be born with it or it can develop after several ear infections. It would be essential to determine if the patient has had frequent ear infections in the past (Chawla, Ezhil Bosco, Lim, Shenoy, & Krishnan, 2015).
• Mastoiditis
  • Mastoiditis is a common complication of acute otitis media. Pain, erythema, and tenderness are typically present alone the mastoid process (Attlmayr, 2015).