BUSI 302 Week 6 Discussion Board Forum 3 Thread Example

Reviewed by Laura Hargrove, MPH · Liberty University · Updated

This BUSI 302 Week 6 sample thread applies the week's chapter on health professionals' public duties to a case from a primary care office: an 82-year-old patient with unexplained bruises, a daughter who answers every question for her and a physician unsure whether the signs are strong enough to report. It explains that state law makes health professionals mandatory reporters of suspected abuse of vulnerable adults, that the duty turns on reasonable suspicion rather than proof and that good-faith reporters are generally protected. Research shows why the duty matters: about one in six older adults in community settings experiences abuse in a year, yet physicians report rarely. The thread ends with a reporting protocol for the practice. Liberty University BUSI 302 sets this 75-point thread in Module/Week 6 of the BS in Healthcare Administration.

CourseBUSI 302 Legal and Ethical Issues in Healthcare (BUSI302)
Module/Week6
AssignmentDiscussion Board Forum 3 Thread
Paper typeDiscussion thread
Lengthabout 518 words (thread and replies). Course guide: a thread of at least 450 words demonstrating course-related knowledge and citing at least 2 scholarly sources other than the course textbook in current APA format
FormatAPA 7 citations and reference list
Points75
SchoolLiberty University Online
ProgramBS in Healthcare Administration
Where it sitsModule/Week 6 in Liberty's published BUSI 302 course guide; current sections can differ
UpdatedOctober 2026

Free sample paper for BUSI 302 Week 6

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Discussion Board Forum 3: Public Duties and the Mandate to Report

BUSI 302 Legal and Ethical Issues in Healthcare, Discussion Board Forum 3 Thread

Thread by [Student Name]

The patient, the practice and the staff are composites; the textbook and the journal articles cited are real.

Why this part earns its pointsThe thread starts with a real kind of visit and the staff disagreement, which gives the legal duty a concrete decision to govern.
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Last week an 82-year-old patient came to our family medicine office for a blood pressure check. Our medical assistant noticed fresh bruises on both upper arms, the kind left by gripping. The patient's daughter answered every question for her, and when the physician asked to speak with the patient alone, the daughter refused. Afterward, the physician said she was uncomfortable "accusing the family" without more evidence. The medical assistant, who had noticed the bruises, felt strongly that we should call. Both cared about the patient; they simply disagreed about what caring required, and both looked to me for an answer. As practice manager, I had to answer the question of what the law required of us.

Judson and Harrison (2016) explain that health professionals have public duties that override ordinary confidentiality, including reporting suspected abuse of children and vulnerable adults. What triggers the obligation is a reasonable suspicion rather than certainty, and those who report in good faith are generally shielded from liability. Our state, like nearly every state, names physicians and other health professionals as mandatory reporters to adult protective services. Investigating what happened is the agency's job, not ours.

Why this part earns its pointsThe research shows both how common the problem is and why clinicians hesitate, which the protocol then addresses.
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The research shows why the duty exists. Yon et al. (2017) pooled 52 studies from 28 countries and estimated that 15.7% of older adults living in the community were abused in a given year, roughly one in six. Yet reporting by physicians remains rare. In a survey of 356 general practitioners, physicians on average suspected fewer than one case a year, and only 32% had suspected even one case in the previous year, although more than half felt confident recognizing physical abuse and neglect (Frazão et al., 2025). Primary care physicians interviewed in an earlier study saw reporting as a paradox: it could protect the patient but also damage the physician-patient relationship, the patient's quality of life and the physician's sense of control (Rodríguez et al., 2006).

Those findings describe our physician exactly. Her concern about the family is understandable, but the law does not ask her to accuse anyone; it asks her to share a reasonable suspicion with the agency trained to investigate. Not reporting could leave the patient in danger and expose the practice to liability for failing a legal duty. A report also does not end our relationship with the patient or her daughter; we can continue to care for both, and a caregiver under strain may even be connected with support services through the investigation. The law asks for a suspicion honestly reported, not a case already proved.

The physician made the report that afternoon, documenting the bruises with measurements and the daughter's refusal to leave the room, and she told me afterward that knowing the standard was suspicion, not proof, made the call easier. I will propose a written protocol: staff who notice warning signs tell the physician the same day, the physician documents findings objectively, the report is made before the patient leaves when possible and the practice manager confirms that it was filed. Has your workplace had a case like this, and did it have a clear process for reporting?

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References

Frazão, S., Morais, C., Norton, P., Vieira Pinto, P., & Magalhães, T. (2025). Reading between the lines. Older people's maltreatment: From detection to reporting in primary healthcare. BMC Public Health, 26(1), 60. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-25394-1

Judson, K., & Harrison, C. (2016). Law and ethics for the health professions (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.

Rodríguez, M. A., Wallace, S. P., Woolf, N. H., & Mangione, C. M. (2006). Mandatory reporting of elder abuse: Between a rock and a hard place. Annals of Family Medicine, 4(5), 403-409. https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.575

Yon, Y., Mikton, C. R., Gassoumis, Z. D., & Wilber, K. H. (2017). Elder abuse prevalence in community settings: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Global Health, 5(2), e147-e156. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30006-2

What the BUSI 302 Week 6 instructions ask

The third and last forum thread of BUSI 302 falls in Module/Week 6, alongside chapter 9 of Judson and Harrison, one presentation, the sixth Connect homework and the third quiz; replies wait until Module/Week 8. As before, the thread needs at least 450 words, must demonstrate what the course has taught and has to cite at least a pair of outside scholarly sources, formatted in APA. The chapter covers the public duties of health professionals, such as reporting births, deaths, communicable diseases and abuse, so a case built around one of those duties suits the prompt and gives classmates a clear decision to discuss two weeks later.

How this BUSI 302 Week 6 example is built

The sample opens with an older patient's visit to a family medicine office and the disagreement among staff about whether to call adult protective services. It explains the reporting duty from the textbook, including the standard of reasonable suspicion and the legal protection for good-faith reports. Three studies follow: one on how common elder abuse is, one on how seldom physicians suspect and report it and one on why they hesitate. The thread answers the physician's concerns one at a time, notes what reporting does and does not change for the practice's relationship with the family and closes with a short protocol the practice manager will propose.

BUSI 302 Week 6 grading rubric: where the points go

Forum threads in BUSI 302 are typically assessed on reaching 450 words, using chapter 9 correctly, working through a believable case, drawing on two outside scholarly sources and writing in clear, correct APA style. For a public duties topic, faculty look for a correct account of when the duty is triggered and what protection reporters have, together with awareness that details vary from state to state. Threads that take seriously the practical and emotional reasons people fail to report, and then propose a workable process, show the administrative perspective the program aims to build. A thread that only lists reporting laws, without a case, misses the point of the forum, as does one that never says what the writer would do.

BUSI 302 Week 6 help: mistakes that cost points

Choose one public duty from the chapter, such as reporting abuse, a communicable disease or a death, and build the thread around a case you could face at work. Explain what triggers the duty and what the reporter is protected from, then use research to show why the duty matters and why it is often neglected. Propose a process an organization could adopt, with named roles and a time frame. Check your own state's law for specifics before posting, since terms and agencies differ. The replies to this forum are not due until Module/Week 8, so leave classmates a question they can still answer two weeks later. If your example comes from work, change names, ages and settings so no one can be recognized.

Related BUSI 302 sample papers

Other BUSI 302 weeks

BUSI 302 Week 6 questions, answered

What is BUSI 302 Discussion Board Forum 3?

The course's last 75-point forum: a thread on public duties posted in Module/Week 6, then two replies to classmates two weeks later in Module/Week 8.

Where can I find a free BUSI 302 Week 6 sample paper?

This page posts the complete BUSI 302 Week 6 thread on mandatory reporting of suspected elder abuse, references included, at no charge to students.

Are health professionals required to report elder abuse?

Nearly every state names health professionals among those who must report when they suspect a vulnerable adult is being abused, neglected or exploited, though the details differ.

Do you need proof to report suspected abuse?

No. Reporting laws generally require only a reasonable suspicion based on what the professional observed; deciding whether abuse actually happened is the investigating agency's job, not the reporter's.

How common is elder abuse?

A 2017 meta-analysis of studies in community settings put the share of adults aged 60 and older abused in a single year at 15.7%, roughly one in six.

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