Advanced Directives: An Ethical Dilemma

1091 Words3 Pages

Advance Directives: An Ethical Dilemma The ethical controversies between patients and families and health care providers, regarding advanced directives dilemma of research and conflict with providers of care towards end of life choices, or accidental injuries leading to comatose state with patients who had never made or signed their advance directives, deciding on how they preferred to be cared for when those times came. This complex issue has in the past to present resulted in countless lawsuits, against healthcare providers by families who believed that no matter the state, meaning whether comatose, or in situations where a loved one had no choice in deciding for them, families have always assumed they automatically gain the power of attorney in …show more content…

The account of most of these cases according to research from the articles I have read personally and the one used for this case study on advanced directives ethical dilemma, in healthcare relates the problem to inadequate family teaching by health care providers in educating loved ones, on the proper understanding of advance directives without compromising patients’ privacy as well as confidentiality, we, as

Show More
Related

  • The Strange Case of Marlise Munoz and John Peter Smith Hospital

    1005 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many ethical paradigms through which humans find guidance and justification for their own actions. In the case of contractarianism, citizens of a state are entitled to human rights, considered to be unalienable, and legal rights, which are both protected by the state. As Spinello says, “The problem with most rights-based theories is that they do not provide adequate criteria for resolving practical disputes when rights are in conflict” (14). One case that supports Spinello is the case of Marlise Munoz, a brain-dead pregnant thirty-three year old, who was wrongly kept on life support for nearly two months at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. Misinterpretation of the Texas Advance Directives Act by John Peter Smith Hospital led to the violation of the contractarian paradigm. Although the hospital was following the directive in order to maintain legal immunity for its hospital staff, the rights of the family were violated along with the medical fundamental principle to “first, do no harm.”

    Read More

  • Mrs. Boswell’s Dilemma

    1185 Words  | 3 Pages

    This ethical scenario presents an 86 year old female with numerous health issues and chronic illnesses. Mrs. Boswell’s advancing Alzheimer’s disease makes it extremely difficult to initiate dialysis, leading her physician to conclude a poor quality of life. The ethical dilemma portrayed in this case is between non-maleficence and autonomy. Health care workers should focus on promoting the patient’s overall wellbeing and weigh the benefits and risks of the course of action, while also considering what the family declares they want done. Since the patient is deemed unable to make decisions, the goal is to collaborate with family, assess patient quality of life, address prognosis, and establish realistic care goals.

    Read More

  • Physician Aid-in-Dying (PAD): The Right to Choose

    1783 Words  | 4 Pages

    Braddock, Clarence, and Mark Tonelli. "Physician Aid-in-Dying: Ethical Topic in Medicine." Ethics in Medicine. University of Washington, 2009. Web. 3 March 2015.

    Read More

  • Dilemmas in Elderly Healthcare: Mrs. Takahashi's Case

    1106 Words  | 3 Pages

    Takahashi’s past wishes will help the healthcare team understand the patient’s current quality of life relative to her being before the onset of dementia and even prior to the stroke. A person’s quality of life appears different to different people, hence the disagreement among grandchildren. Mrs. Takahashi has a 5-10% chance of returning to a life of meaningful quality with aggressive treatment that will more than likely include significant suffering. Physicians in the past have noted that when treating patients similar to Mrs. Takahashi the healing process was not always effective, patients were susceptible to other illnesses, and mobility was fixed to a wheelchair or bed at best. A study conducted by Morrison and Siu (2000) followed acutely ill patients with end stage dementia and a poor prognosis to determine if emphasis should switch from curative interventions to palliative care. The first group of participants included demented patients with either pneumonia or hip fractures, and the second group included cognitively intact older adults with similar injuries. The researchers found that for the elderly with pneumonia, the mortality rate was 53% in demented patients and only 13% for non-demented patients. An identical trend was seen in the participants with hip fractures, producing a mortality rate of 55% in demented patients and 12% in non-demented individuals. Both types of participants received an equal amount of intense procedures yet mortality rates drastically differed, leading to the conclusion that healthcare teams should focus their efforts to enhance comfort in the demented patient population (Morrison & Siu 2000). Given the poor prognosis, the Ethics Committee finds it imperative that the healthcare team learn more about Mrs. Takahashi’s preferences and family relationships prior to dementia and recommend treating the patient via palliative care if there is no substantial improvement in her health after a limited time of aggressive

    Read More

  • Advance Care Directives

    1162 Words  | 3 Pages

    As we get older and delve into the real world, it is important to start thinking about end-of-life care and advance directives. Although it is something no one wants to imagine, there is an absolute necessity for living wills and a power of attorney. Learning about the Patient Self-Determination Act and the different legal basis in where you live is important because it will help people understand why advance care directives are so important. Although there are several barriers in implementing advance care directives, there are also several actions that healthcare professionals can take to overcome these obstacles. These are also important to know about, especially for someone going into the medical field.

    Read More

  • Advanced Directives Argumentative Essay

    1023 Words  | 3 Pages

    Consequently, she was left in what most assumed to be a vegetative state for years eventually because her husband continued to advocate for her right to die she was unplugged and died soon after. This case served as a warning for most people who didn’t really consider Advanced Directives before. Are family members sure of what lengths should or shouldn’t be taken worst case scenario. Repeatedly this has proven not to be the case. Death or dying is always a taboo subject however, when high profile cases like this arise people are forced to evaluate their own lives? A study regarding knowledge about advance directives conducted in 2004 suggested that there was a direct correlation between attitudes, financial stability and the number of people who had advanced directives. Surprisingly this same study discovered that doctors or healthcare professions assumed it was the patient’s duty to seek out

    Read More

  • Mental Capacity Act 2005 Essay

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    Social Attitudes Survey noted that 78% of respondents believe that “the law should require doctors to carry out the instructions of a Living Will” (Park et al, 2007). These decisions become important once patients lose their mental capacity, are unconscious, or unable to communicate” (BMA, 2009). The Mental Capacity Act 2005 defines an “advance decision” as a decision made by a person 18 or over, when he or she has the capacity to do so. The implications of a Living Will, make the case against legalising assisted dying weaker. This is because if a person is legally allowed to set out which treatments they will or will not agree to, and can refuse life sustaining treatments by creating a legal document, then why shouldn’t an individual in extreme pain who is able to make the request at the time be able to ask for assistance in

    Read More

  • Immanuel Kant's The Quinlan Case

    1386 Words  | 3 Pages

    In an effort to provide the standard of care for such a patient the treating physicians placed Ms. Quinlan on mechanical ventilation preserving her basic life function. Ms. Quinlan’s condition persisted in a vegetative state for an extended period of time creating the ethical dilemma of quality of life, the right to choose, the right to privacy, and the end of life decision. The Quilan family believed they had their daughter’s best interests and her own personal wishes with regard to end of life treatment. The case became complicated with regard to Karen’s long-term care from the perspective of the attending physicians, the medical community, the legal community local/state/federal case law and the catholic hospital tenants. The attending physicians believed their obligation was to preserve life but feared legal action both criminal and malpractice if they instituted end of life procedures. There was prior case law to provide guidance for legal resolution of this case. The catholic hospital in New Jersey, St. Clare’s, and Vatican stated this was going down a slippery slope to legalization of euthanasia. The case continued for 11 years and 2 months with gaining national attention. The resolution was obtained following Karen’s father being granted guardianship and ultimately made decisions on Karen’s behalf regarding future medical

    Read More

  • Nursing Code of Ethics

    1985 Words  | 4 Pages

    The purpose of this paper is to discuss nursing ethics. The paper will discuss: the history of ethics, definition, doctor/nurse being education about ethics in college, code of ethics, futile care and the confusion with DNR orders. Ethics needs to be recognized on all levels of healthcare such as doctors, nurses, patients and families. CINAHAL and PubMed search engines were utilized for . Many articles were presented with the initial search, expansion on keywords assisted in generating more specific articles.

    Read More

  • Advanced Care Planning

    764 Words  | 2 Pages

    Two examples of Advance Care Directives, which are living wills that allow a person to document end of life medical treatment, are the FiveWishes and MyDirectives in the United States. The FiveWishes directive is described as living with a heart and soul and follows five wishes. These wishes include: the person which will make decisions regarding the patient’s health when the patient is not able to, the kind of medical treatment wanted and not wanted, the level of comfortability of the patient, how the patient is treated, and the amount of information that the patient’s loved ones know. The MyDirec...

    Read More

  • Patient Assisted Suicide

    1881 Words  | 4 Pages

    One of the greatest dangers facing chronic and terminally ill patients is the grey area regarding PAS. In the Netherlands, there are strict criteria for the practice of PAS. Despite such stringencies, the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (1992) found 28% of the PAS cases in the Netherlands did not meet the criteria. The evidence suggests some of the patient’s lives may have ended prematurely or involuntarily. This problem can be addressed via advance directives. These directives would be written by competent individuals explaining their decision to be aided in dying when they are no longer capable of making medical decisions. These interpretations are largely defined by ones morals, understanding of ethics, individual attitudes, religious and cultural values.

    Read More

  • DR): Advance Directive Or Advance Directive?

    1102 Words  | 3 Pages

    Advance directives might have many guidelines for patient’s preferences with regard to any number of life-affecting, or end of life situations, such as chronic disease or accident resulting in traumatic injury. It can include directions for other health situations, such as short-term unconsciousness, impairment by Alzheimer disease or dementia. These guidelines may consider do-not- resuscitate (DNR) orders if the heart or breathing stops, tube-feeding, or organ and tissue donation. The directive might name a specific person, or proxy, to direct care or may be very general with only basic instructions given for treatment in time of the incapacitation of a patient. Some states say that if you do not have a written directive, a spoken directive is acceptable.

    Read More

  • Essay On Patient Confidentiality

    566 Words  | 2 Pages

    Patient confidentiality is one of the foundations to the medical practice. Patients arrive at hospitals seeking treatment believing that all personal information will remain between themselves and the medical staff. In order to assure patients privacy, confidentiality policies were established. However, a confidentiality policy may be broken only in the case the medical staff believes that the patient is a danger to themselves or to others in society. Thesis Statement: The ethics underlying patient confidentiality is periodically questioned in our society due to circumstances that abruptly occur leaving health professionals to decide between right and wrong.

    Read More

  • Death And Dying Essay

    1240 Words  | 3 Pages

    The subject of death and dying can cause many controversies for health care providers. Not only can it cause legal issues for them, but it also brings about many ethical issues as well. Nearly every health care professional has experienced a situation dealing with death or dying. This tends to be a tough topic for many people, so health care professionals should take caution when handling these matters. Healthcare professionals not only deal with patient issues but also those of the family. Some of the controversies of death and dying many include; stages of death and dying, quality of life issues, use of medications and advanced directives.

    Read More

  • Euthanasia Should Be Legal

    2051 Words  | 5 Pages

    Death is a personal experience and to ensure loved one’s wishes, there has to be the ‘what if’ conversation. It is natural to talk about the possible end with loved ones after marriage and having children. Living wills are obtained and do not resuscitate orders, thoughts of a possible guardian for the children, life insurance, appointing a health care agent, and any other loose ends that will ensure the well being of the family. A health care agent is someone who the patient designates to make medical decisions, if decisions cannot be made generally. The chosen agent should be a person who knows the wishes on the extent of medical care treatment wanted. The appointed health care agent should be someone who is not afraid to ask questions of the healthcare professionals to get information needed to make decisions and be assertive to ensure that wishes are respected. (Healthcare Agents, n.d.).

    Read More

More about Advanced Directives: An Ethical Dilemma

Open Document