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Importance of health care ethics
Importance of health care ethics
Importance of health care ethics
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Dr. Atul Gawande, a Harvard Medical School graduate and writer for The New Yorker, phenomenally illustrates the unknown side of healthcare professions in his book, Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science. By exploring the ethical and analytical aspects of medicine while entertaining readers with relatable anecdotes, Gawande impresses on his audience the importance of recognizing the wonders of the healthcare field, as well as the fallibility of those within it. The writing style of the author is quite interesting to me. Atul Gawande’s honesty, a major aspect of his writing style, beautifully highlights the good and bad of any medical profession. For example, Gawande’s argument over the use of patients for resident training
Chasing Zero is a documentary which was meant to both educate the viewer on the prevalence of medical harm as well as to enlighten both the public and health care providers on the preventability of these events (Discovery, 2010). The documentary expounded on the fact each year more people die each year from a preventable medical error than die due to breast cancer, motor vehicle accidents or AIDS (Institute of Medicine, 1999). Medical harm can result from adverse drug events, surgical injuries, wrong-site surgery, suicides, restraint-related injuries, falls, burns, pressure ulcers and mistaken patient identities (Institute of Medicine, 1999). Incidences of medical error have been reported in the media for many years. The most startling revelation in the documentary is how common medical errors are and how preventable they are.
In 102 Minutes, Chapter 7, authors Dwyer and Flynn use ethos, logos, and pathos to appeal to the readers’ consciences, minds and hearts regarding what happened to the people inside the Twin Towers on 9/11. Of particular interest are the following uses of the three appeals.
In the text, Gawande states, “I punctured a patient’s lung, for example-the right lung of a chief of surgery from another hospital, no less-and given the odds, I’m sure such things will happen again.” This shows how fatal errors can occur during a surgical procedure however, it is something that surgical residents have to grow accustomed to since mistakes like this are likely to reoccur. Gawande also mentions that when practicing on a patient, mistakes are bound to happen however, it is a part of learning. In the text, Gawande states, “She let me continue with the next steps, which I bumbled through. I didn’t realize how long and floppy the guide wire was until I pulled the coil of its plastic sleeve, and, putting one end of it into the patient, I very nearly contaminated the other.” This quote proves that although mistakes can happen, it is a part of the learning process. In this specific part, Gawande talks about how he nearly made a severe error however, he was able to learn from his mistake and complete the procedure successfully. This shows how practicing on patients is necessary for the advancement of the medical field. Therefore, although ethical and practical tensions may arise, practicing on patients is needed in order to save the lives of many in the long
For anyone who has ever worked in healthcare, or simply for someone who has watched a popular hit television show such as Grey’s Anatomy, General Hospital, House or ER know that there can be times when a doctor or health care provider is placed in extremely difficult situations. Often times, those situations are something that we watch from the sidelines and hope for the best in the patient’s interest. However, what happens when you place yourself inside the doctors, nurses, or any other of the medical provider’s shoes? What if you were placed in charge of a patient who had an ethically challenging situation? What you would you do then? That is precisely what Lisa Belkin accomplishes in her book “First Do No Harm”. Belkin takes the reader on
People trust doctors to save lives. Everyday millions of Americans swallow pills prescribed by doctors to alleviate painful symptoms of conditions they may have. Others entrust their lives to doctors, with full trust that the doctors have the patient’s best interests in mind. In cases such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, the Crownsville Hospital of the Negro Insane, and Joseph Mengele’s Research, doctors did not take care of the patients but instead focused on their self-interest. Rebecca Skloot, in her contemporary nonfiction novel The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, uses logos to reveal corruption in the medical field in order to protect individuals in the future.
Dr. Gawande’s own story, Personal Best (2013), describes the event in which people tend to reach a plateau and perceive to be in a state in which people have nothing more to learn. As a highly educated surgeon, he measures his level of success based on his low rates of complication after surgery in comparison to those of his peers at the national scale. Dr. Gawande never considered the benefit or the idea of having a coach up to this point.
Dr. Atul Gawande’s article, “Overkill”, describes the harms of overtreatment and over testing to not only the patients, but the US health care system as well. He utilizes patient’s stories, his own personal stories, and expert analysis to inform the readers that the health care system is overdoing tests, over diagnosing, and performing procedures that are extremely expensive, but in the end does not improve the patient’s condition. Dr. Gawande’s argument is that the US health care system is engaging in expensive, unnecessary medical care when they should be adopting a slow medicine philosophy.
Diligence is a virtue. This is a theme Atul Gawande presents to the reader throughout Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance. In each story, Gawande provides insight on medical studies he has previously embarked upon. For example, in “The Mop-up” the author tells us about a time when he went to India to observe the efforts to eradicate polio. Gawande explains how he followed a supervisor around and how vaccinations were performed. Additionally, in another chapter he debates on whether physicians should take part in death sentences. Throughout his adventures Gawande provides numerous enriching personal accounts of controversial events and what it is like to be a doctor; each with diligence playing a key part.
...x the problem. In today’s society, because of the advancements in the medical field, technology and the rise of professional doctors, we do not need to resort to supernatural phenomena to cure medical hardships. Doctors have the ability to fix most of our troubles through procedures such as medicine or surgery. Hence, this demonstrates how the study of history, puts human experience in context and allows us to understand ourselves as people and how much we have evolved, and will continue to evolve for centuries to come.
Atul Gawande, the writer of Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, is a surgeon and a professor at Harvard Medical School. This is an inspiring book that unwraps people’s mind to scrutinize and question our current practice of medicine and care.
Question Quote "I doubt that these experiences are unique to the hospitals or the medical school at which I have thus far trained. I expect that they pervade health care systems throughout the country. I give credit to my medical school for teaching me to be critical of the culture of medicine, apply interdisciplinary perspectives to clinical quandaries, and reflect on my experiences." (Brooks KC. 2015.)
The film Sicko (2007), is about the misfortune and distress associated with the American Health care system and how it compares to those in several foreign countries where universal health care is the normal. The audience explores Moore’s rhetorical strategies and how he represents the issue of health care with the goal of gaining support from the rest of society for his cause. Michael Moore make this film that has the purpose to especially inform the American audience about the current health system in America and terrible system created in America that is sometimes deadly. The filmmaker used emotion, reason, creditable people, counter arguments and humor/irony to develop his argument that the American health system is terrible to citizens.
Modern technology has made tasks and procedures easier, more accurate, and more convenient. However, people have become heavily dependent on technology, including the health care sector. In Ray Bradbury’s “The Martian Chronicles,” one of the main themes is that the people have relied on technology too much and it has led to their destruction. This idea can be applied to the health field. Relying on too much technology takes away the human element of healthcare and overlooks a patient’s specific needs and wants, and contributes to the destruction of healthcare. Two short stories from this collection, “There Will Come Soft Rains” and “The Million-Year Picnic” portray this through the use of plot, character,
Even though the old man has done nothing to deserve this hatred, the young man is repulsed by his hideous feature. The man decides that he will murder the old man to escape the torment that the eye inflicted upon him. For many nights, the man approached the old man’s chambers with murderous intent, but could not execute his plans because he could not see the dreaded eye. One night,however, the old man awoke and the man maliciously murdered him and severed the libs. He meticulously hid all body parts within the walls and floor. When the police showed up the following morning, he calmly and confidently answered the door. After all suspicion had been
Medical technology is known for its quality, safety, and efficiency. It not only cures patients but increases the hope one needs to raise the survival rate after a sever surgery. Maluses of medical instrument creates thousands of errors and adverse events. In “The Little Black Bag,” author Cyril Kornbluth signifies how medical advancement can save and kill simultaneously. Advancement of medical technologies reaches out to help those who are in need; however, the misuse of these innovations can create disharmony along the way.