Case One
The case presented depicts one that may have serious ethical issues. The decision to be made regarding the woman’s health is a challenging one considering the consequences in each of the cases. The woman has an obligation to her family when it comes to being treated. Clearly, funds are not a big issue in the first instance especially in the event that the surgery goes on well. Her worry is that she would subject her family to further problems in the case that the operation does not go through well. However, in answering her question, it is important to note that a woman of her stature has the right to refuse treatment because she has the right to choose what happens to her life. She can decide whether to go on with the treatment or
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Before the doctors go ahead to perform an operation, it is important that the concurrence of the patient be considered. The case presented in the scenario is about a woman who is denying the state of her medical condition. She has not made a formal consent that would allow the operation to be conducted. According to her, she assumes that she is in good health and does not appear to be worried about the condition. Her denial of the medical condition makes it impossible to obtain informed consent. She is fully aware of her medical condition. However, she has decided to go about her day to day activities oblivious of the health condition she was going through. The fact that she has failed to take a stance on whether to go on with the operation makes it clear that having informed consent is impossible. Informed consent happens where a person is fully aware of the condition and is expected to make the decision on whether the operation can be carried out or not (Lord, Naqvi, Babu & Sainsbury, 2012). In the event that a particular patient is unable to make the decision based on grounds of incapacity, such as severe mental health, then the family members have the right to make the decision on behalf of the patient. However, in the case presented Mrs. S appears to be fully aware of her condition. However, she decides to defer and make the decision at a later date. It is clear that she has refused to make a decision regarding her cardiac condition. Her denial of the condition makes the art of making informed consent
Healthcare creates unique dilemmas that must consider the common good of every patient. Medical professionals, on a frequent basis, face situations that require complicated, and at times, difficult decision-making. The medical matters they decide on are often sensitive and critical in regards to patient needs and care. In the Case of Marguerite M and the Angiogram, the medical team in both cases were faced with the critical question of which patient gets the necessary medical care when resources are limited. In like manner, when one patient receives the appropriate care at the expense of another, medical professionals face the possibility of liability and litigation. These medical circumstances place a burden on the healthcare professionals to think and act in the best interest of the patient while still considering the ethical and legal issues they may confront as a result of their choices and actions. Medical ethics and law are always evolving as rapid advances in all areas of healthcare take place.
The issue I Journaled about in the course is to reduce falls among the elderly in long term care. In writing my journals one of my focuses is that patient’s dignity can destroyed after falling multiple times by diminishing their independence. Our responsibility as nurses is to inform patients of choices, options for selection, which is why I suggested that patients should be given as much independence as possible with close supervision, and to the best of our ability, inform the patient of the consequences of the choices. Another ethical principle the book explained about is the respect for a person, it is the patients right to choose how they go along with their daily living in long-term care. They can choose not to engage in activity that
Planning included reaching out to other health organizations, objectives, and goals of health fair were established. The implementation includes getting volunteers, set up for the health fair. The evaluation of the process occurred throughout the implementation and changes were made as needed. The evaluation will be completed by gathering information from health booth to determine the number of participants. Review vendor and participant evaluations about the health fair including how they heard about the health fair, ratings of booths and suggestions for improvements. Record everything to determine changes. Reflection on past experiences and what worked and did not work.
Charlotte’s parents thought otherwise, the Ethics Advisory Committee had to get involved. The debate surrounded if the doctors were in the right to control the life of someone who were incapable of deciding themselves, or is it the parents right. The Ethics Advisory Committee, stated that the parents were superior to those of the hospital and the hospital should conduct with less painful test. Charlotte’s parents wanted the doctors to continue testing until it was determined that her life diffidently had no chance of remaining. Because, of Charlotte’s parents’ desires unfortunately caused Charlotte to die a painful death without her parents. If the patient is unable to speak for their selves, the family should be able to have some say in the medical treatment, however; if the doctors have tried everything they could do, the hospital should have final decisions whether or not the patient dies or treatment
Queensland Health (2011) states that in the nursing profession, certain principles must be fulfilled in order for informed consent to be considered valid. They state that the patient must be deemed to have the capacity to make a decision about the proposed issue at that specific time, and not be under the influence of any alcohol or drugs. They state that the patient must consent voluntarily and the decision be made free of manipulation or undue influence by family or the nurse. They suggest that the discussion must involve two-way communication between the patient and the nurse and be clear, rational and sensitive to the situation. The nurse must provide the patient with sufficient information about the proposed issue in a language that the patient can clearly comprehend (Queensland Health, 2011). When providing care, both nurses and paramedics must ensure that the patient has adequate knowledge and have a necessary understanding of the procedure, to...
Consent is an issue of concern for all healthcare professional when coming in contact with patients either in a care environment or at their home. Consent must be given voluntary or freely, informed and the individual has the capacity to give or make decisions without fear or fraud (Mental Capacity Act, 2005 cited in NHS choice, 2010). The Mental Capacity Act perceives every adult competent unless proven otherwise as in the case of Freeman V Home Office, a prisoner who was injected by a doctor without consent because of behavioural disorder (Dimond, 2011). Consent serves as an agreement between the nurse and the patient, and allows any examination or treatment to be administered. Nevertheless, consent must be obtained in every occurrence of care as in the case of Mohr V William 1905 (Griffith and Tengrah, 2011), where a surgeon obtain consent to perform a procedure on a patient right ear. The surgeon found defect in the left ear of the patient and repaired it assuming he had obtained consent for both ear. The patient sued him and the court found the surgeon guilty of trespassing. Although there is no legal requirement that states how consent should be given, however, there are various ways a person in care of a nurse may give consent. This could be formal (written) form of consent or implied (oral or gesture) consent. An implied consent may be sufficient for taking observation or examination of patient, while written is more suitable for invasive procedure such as surgical operation (Dimond, 2011).
An ethical dilemma is defined as a mental state when the nurse has to make a choice between the options and choices that he or she has at her disposal. The choice is a crucial task as the opting of the step will subsequently determine the health status of the concerned patient, hence it requires a great deal of wisdom along with proper medical and health training before any such step is opted as it is a matter of life and death. Strong emphasis should therefore be on the acquisition of proper knowledge and skills so that nurses do posses the autonomy to interact with patients regarding ethical issues involved in health care affairs and address them efficiently. It is normally argued that nurses are not provided sufficient authority to consult and address their patients on a more communicative or interactive level as a result of which they are often trapped in predicaments where their treatments of action and their personal beliefs create a conflict with the health interests of the patient. (Timby, 2008)
Physical Therapist (PT), are skilled health care practitioners that aim to improve movement, reduce pain and increase patient enjoyment of life. All while providing moral, legal and ethical care to patients. However, each of these requirements of practice are dictated by different entities. Meaning, that the requirements sometimes may or may not correlate with one another. Legally, therapist must abide by both state and national laws that are put in place for all health care professionals, in addition to those specific to the field of Physical Therapy. Whereas, ethical responsibilities may be dictated by the professional organizations and society norms. While morals vary according to different cultures and subcultures, making them specific
In the profession of Dental Hygiene, ethical dilemmas are nearly impossible to avoid, and most hygienists at some point in their professional life will have to face and answer ethical questions. Some ethical conflicts the dental hygienist may encounter can be quite complex and an obvious answer may not be readily available. In the article Ethical Decision Making, Phyllis Beemsterboer suggests an ethical decision-making model can aide the dental hygienist in making appropriate decisions when confronted with an ethical situation, and that the six-step model can serve dental hygienists in making the most advantageous ethical decision (2010).
Ethics asses the values, morals, and principles of nurses. Legal codes or laws are rules established by our government. It’s important that nurses have a clear and comprehensive understanding of ethical and legal codes within their career. The understanding of these codes is essential for nurses to safely practice and to protect their patients. Nurses must abide by these principles or face the consequences of legal action. These principles include autonomy, utilitarianism, confidentiality, and many others. Autonomy is the agreement to respect ones right to determine a course of action, while utilitarianism is what is best for most people as defined in American Nurses Association. In order to give you a
Disclosure of pertinent medical facts and alternative course of treatment should not be overlooked by the physician in the decision making process. This is very important information impacting whether that patient will go along with the recommended treatment. The right to informed consent did not become a judicial issue ...
In nursing, it is not uncommon to encounter situations where nurses are required make ethical decisions based on legal and ethical principles. These situations often are seen in pediatric nursing when there are conflicting views between the parents and their child. For example, Mike is a 15-year-old boy who has been diagnosed again with acute myelocytic leukemia (AML) and is to continue another taxing round of chemotherapy. Mike confides to his nurse that he would like to discontinue treatment. Meanwhile, his parents are adamant that treatment continues. The nurse must decide whether to terminate or continue with Mike’s chemotherapy.
At its’ peak in 2012, 259 million opioid prescriptions were written by physicians in the United States. Specifically, that is the equivalent of one prescription for every adult in the country. Subsequently, at least two million people suffer with an opioid use disorder (OUD) within the United States. Unfortunately, this epidemic crisis has caused ethical strains in regards to the physician-patient relationship (Rothstein, 2017). Furthermore, nurses often face ethical dilemmas as well when caring for patients that suffer with OUD (da Cunha, 2015).
...ue to numerous medical errors. With the amount of medical errors that currently do occur which is a current health care issue it cost the health care billions of dollar each year to fix the mistakes that were made.
Health care has always been an interesting topic all over the world. Voltaire once said, “The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.” It may seem like health care that nothing gets accomplished in different health care systems, but ultimately many trying to cures diseases and improve health care systems.