Gift giving and receiving in healthcare is controversial. Some companies don’t allow any form of receiving gifts and lunches from pharmaceutical representatives. A less discussed aspect of gift giving in the healthcare field is that of patient gift giving. Patients would bring gifts to my office weekly, even more so around the holidays. I used to see a patient every Friday for two years. One day he brought each of my coworkers and I a homemade wooden pot holder with his initials on it. He was so excited to give us the gifts we couldn’t say no. But should we have? In most cases I believe accepting gifts from patients is beneficial for both the patient and the healthcare workers, but in certain cases accepting certain gifts is unacceptable. There …show more content…
Beneficence and non-maleficence in healthcare is doing the most good and least amount of harm for a patient.2 These are two of the ethical principles which relate to the issue of gift giving in healthcare. Regarding gifts from patients, doing what is best for the patient could mean either accepting or declining the gift depending on the situation. Each provider should weigh the pros and cons, downstream effects, and appropriateness of taking the gift. If the patient will be offended if a provider rejects their gift this may be doing harm to the patient. If not taking the gift will damage the provider-patient relationship then maybe the provider should take the gift in some instances. If an impoverished patient is offering their provider a 500$ present for Christmas, maybe taking this gift would do more harm than good to accept. In this case, a polite decline while still maintaining a good provider-patient relationship would be the best course of action. Autonomy is the right to make one’s own choices.2 With regard to patient autonomy, patients have the right to express their gratitude. If this gratitude is in the form of gift giving then that is their decision to show gratitude in that …show more content…
Whereas a patient who never brings gifts to the provider may have to wait like everyone else.
These two options are not the only choices available to the healthcare providers.
Providers can always accept gifts and then donate them to charities. One way a hospital or provider could set this up is by having a box where patients or coworkers wishing to give providers a gift for the holidays could chose to donate the gift or give the gift to the doctor.
That way the patient has an option of showing their appreciation to the doctor specifically or to the provider by donating to the provider’s chosen charity. They can share the gift with the
whole staff, for example cookies brought in on Christmas Eve by a patient could be put in the breakroom for everyone to have an uplifting treat.
Overall, I believe common sense needs to be used when deciding to accept or decline a gift from a patient. A provider should be able to discriminate an acceptable gift from an unacceptable one. Each individual case needs to be examined thoughtfully and the principles
The reason I thought this was the most ethical possibility was because it included sending
...r away from the thread of paternalism because the doctor is not inclined or able to take advantage of the patient.
When a patient enters the hospital, he or she expects the health care professionals to treat him or her with respect and fairness. The hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare settings should deserve and be reputed with a strong set of ethical principles and respect in the face of the law. To John, a 35 year old schizophrenic who is experiencing a crisis situation, his mental health depends greatly on his health care team. He wrote an advance directive that states which medications he would prefer to receive and that he wants his parents to be involved in his care, but he currently exhibits paranoia against his parents. John’s health care team must decide on what course of action to take. The purpose of this paper is to examine the legal and ethical aspects of John’s advance directive and his recipient rights.
Providers must act in the best interest of the patient and their basic obligation is to do no harm and work for the public’s wellbeing. A physician shall always keep in mind the obligation of preserving human life. Providers must communicate full, accurate and unbiased information so patients can make informed decisions about their health care. As a result of their recommendations, providers are responsible for generating costs in health care but do not generate the need for those expenses. Every hospital has both an ethical as well as a legal responsibility to provide care, even if the care may be uncompensated.
In conclusion, every patient is worried about their rights to care but not so much are focused on the rights of the physicians providing the care. It is hard to establish a respectable practice if you are required to perform care for instances in which you object or do not want to be a part of. This detracts from the ethical background of practice and procedure every physician should hold to the highest standard.
.... Each day your will leave a lasting impression on the people you interact with. By providing care and communicating with your patients, you will foster not only trust but also you will heal not only your patients’ bodies but their minds too. The sense of gratification felt from such service is unparalleled.
Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political, and bioethical reasoning. Inside these connections, it is the limit of a sound individual to make an educated, unpressured decision. Patient autonomy can conflict with clinician autonomy and, in such a clash of values, it is not obvious which should prevail. (Lantos, Matlock & Wendler, 2011). In order to gain informed consent, a patient
Throughout history physicians have faced numerous ethical dilemmas and as medical knowledge and technology have increased so has the number of these dilemmas. Organ transplants are a subject that many individuals do not think about until they or a family member face the possibility of requiring one. Within clinical ethics the subject of organ transplants and the extent to which an individual should go to obtain one remains highly contentious. Should individuals be allowed to advertise or pay for organs? Society today allows those who can afford to pay for services the ability to obtain whatever they need or want while those who cannot afford to pay do without. By allowing individuals to shop for organs the medical profession’s ethical belief in equal medical care for every individual regardless of their ability to pay for the service is severely violated (Caplan, 2004).
Consent arrangements: the general consensus in the literature is that it is advisable to discuss donation with relatives regardless of the particular consent systems in use.
In this diverse society we are confronted everyday with so many ethical choices in provision of healthcare for individuals. It becomes very difficult to find a guideline that would include a border perspective which might include individual’s beliefs and preference across the world. Due to these controversies, the four principles in biomedical ethic which includes autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice help us understand and explain which medical practices are ethical and acceptable. These principles are not only used to protect the rights of a patient but also the physician from being violated.
In today’s medical field we are advanced enough to preform incredible, life altering surgeries which can change an individual’s life forever. What is not in our power, however, is having the ability to provide patients with specific organs, body tissue, blood, or bone marrow; this is the power of the donors. If compensation is the way more lives are being saved then all else is beside the
Although healthcare providers are able to have some input in the decision making process in healthcare, they truly are not always aware of what their patients want. Only a patient has the responsibility to decide what direction according to their health that they want to go. It is a matter of choosing someone or something to lay out directives in case such a circumstance is to take place. Mo...
The basic rights of human beings, such as concern for personal dignity, are always of great importance. During illness, however, these rights are extremely vital and must be protected. Therefore, healthcare providers should make an effort to assure that these rights are preserved for their patients. Likewise, health care providers have the right to expect reasonable and responsible behavior on the part of our patients, their relatives, and friends. This is where the patient’s bill of rights comes into play.
For instance, by choosing to donate one’s organs, a person is helping save lives. Living organ donors may choose to help save the lives of their close relatives, while donors who are deceased may help others in critical condition to have another chance in life (Pro & Con Organ Donation, 2014). Every year in the United States the population of organ transplant patients increase. In addition, on a daily average, those waiting for an organ do not make it. Therefore, each individual who is a potential donor can help improve as many as 50 lives (Pro & Con Organ Donation, 2014). Another advantage to organ donation is when donors receive appreciation from transplant recipients. People decide to be organ donors because it gives them a sense of fulfillment and gives a second chance to those who need it the most. Furthermore, donating one’s organs can benefit individuals from encountering health treatment costs (WebMD, 2015). Currently, the cost for organ transplants varies from $200,000 up to $1.2 million dollars in the United States (Pro & Con Organ Donation, 2014). For example, a sick patient, who takes numerous amounts of expensive medications or treatments for a certain organ, that is not functioning correctly, can benefit from an organ transplant. Also, if a donor is to have their organs transplanted into another individual, the cost of the procedure may be covered by the transplant patient and their family or from the help of an organ transplant program (WebMD, 2015). Families of donors faced with the demise of their loved ones may look beyond the death and accept that their beloved is saving someone else 's life. Due to this, families may have a sense of emotional attachment in knowing that a part or parts of their loved one will continue in someone else 's body (Pros & Cons Organ Donation, 2014). In addition, health care professionals and nurses