A newlywed couple is expecting their first child. In her seventh month of pregnancy, the mother is driving to her doctor’s appointment. All of the sudden, she is hit on the driver’s side. She is unconscious and quickly rushed to the hospital. The doctor examines her; her placenta is ruptured. The doctor contacts the father for consent of the emergency caesarean section since the mother is incapacitated. The mother and child are in fatal danger if the doctor does not move quickly. The father consents to the surgery. Once the father arrives at the hospital, he is not allowed in the operating room. As he waits, the doctor comes out and tells him of his child’s birth. However, there were complications, so the child was in the Neonatal Intensive …show more content…
Neonatal resuscitation is intervention after a baby is born to strengthen it’s breathe or to boost its heartbeat. Approximately 10% of neonates require some assistance to begin breathing at birth, but only 1% require serious resuscitative measures. Informed consent regarding neonatal resuscitation is a constant ethical debate. This discourse ordinarily occurs between doctors and parents; parents often feel that the decision has been made for them, believing that they were not fully informed of any consequences that may occur before making their final action plan, or thinking that their opinion was not taken seriously; however, doctors see the procedure in a different light, that the parents can’t choose the best option for the child regardless of counseling, or performing as the parents wished but believing that the result could have differed if the parents had known all the effects that it will have further down the line, or convinced that they would have made a better …show more content…
One reason, is that our society holds children in a very protective shell and that many people can relate or emphasize with a loss of a child. Another reason is that this decision or these actions are life and death for someone who can’t make that decision him or herself. Neonatal resuscitation isn’t usually the same treatment for adults. The neonates need assistance with breathing and strengthening their heartbeats rather than restarting their hearts. Depending on how long the resuscitation efforts have lasted and how long the neonate has not been breathing, it might do more damage than good. It could do more harm because the potential brain damage or organ damage that could have happened during the resuscitation due to the lack of oxygen. The legal system also has to approach neonatal resuscitation carefully because every case is different and can’t be handled in the same matter as the last. It’s hard to draw clear lines on the topic of someone’s life. The subject can easily turn into a sticky situation of whether that was the best decision for everyone involved because of the consequences if a single wrong move was
This case was taken into the British court system where, after a long trial, a judge upheld the doctor’s decision not to resuscitate. The reasoning was that the judge felt he could not order the doctors to perform actions that would cause increased suffering for the child. After considering the doctrines of the sanctity of life and the...
Ethical issues are present in every aspect of healthcare. Ethical dilemmas in the Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) are especially difficult because the patient cannot express him/herself. It is therefore the responsibility of the parents to make the decisions regarding treatment. It is the nurse’s job to advocate for the patient to ensure that they are receiving the best possible care. The cost of care, termination of treatment, and the nurses’ role in the termination of treatment are all factors that are included in the care of patients that are suffering in the NICU.
The birth of a child is usually a wonderful and priceless occasion. However, on June 5, 2015, an eleven-year-old girl gave birth to a newborn girl. Approximately a year before she gave birth, her 40-year-old father repeatedly sexually assaulted her. In this case, the unprepared eleven-year-old child decided to have the baby. This is a prime example that illustrates that the right to abortion should always be vested in the woman.
In the medical profession, doctors and nurses run into ethical dilemmas every day whether it be a mother who wants to abort her baby or a patient who has decided they want to stop cancer treatment. It is important for the nurse to know where they stand with their own moral code, but to make sure they are not being biased when educating the patient. Nurses are patient advocates, it is in the job description, so although the nurse may not agree with the patient on their decisions, the nurse to needs to advocate for the patient regardless.
When you are pregnant, you are not just "eating for two." You also breathe and drink for two, so it is important to carefully consider what you give to your baby. If you smoke, use alcohol or take illegal drugs, so does your unborn baby.
birth process, a common prisoner.” (Pg. 305) The doctor knew it could not end like that
The doctors in Haiti thought Charlotte should not be resuscitated, undergo anymore horrible treatments and die peacefully. Charlotte’s parents were not happy with the doctor’s guidelines and thought the United States medical care would have better technology and could save their daughter. Charlotte’s parents bought her a doll which 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.
Around this time major changes are happening in the baby 's lungs (Pregnancy week twenty four Pg 10). So the public says it’s okay to kill a baby that is breathing with a regular heart beat, but what about this? Imagine your mother developed alzheimer 's and became a burden to you, her heart is still beating and she is still breathing, but because this isn’t your ideal situation the doctor gives you the option to end her life. You’re obviously not going to do that, It’s ridiculous that he even thought of this as an option! That is your mother whose job was to protect you and she took care of you and she is alive. We think that the option of murdering in this situation is crazy and wrong but why is it not insane to kill a living, breathing, and heart beating child? You made this baby whether it was planned or not you need to
The plot in this story is strong. However there is not much to be said about the background, but there seems to be a law, Hunter foetal care plan, that was passed to prevent doctors from doing anything other than what the law declares medically necessary. In the story, the law will not allow abortions or anything closely related to it. This, however, becomes a problem when there happens to be a pregnant woman who has become
Another ethical debate could be the ability to give informed consent. It can be argued that a child cannot fully be aware of what is happening until they reach a certain age (in South Australia, the age of medical consent is 16 years old) and therefore they cannot express their full informed consent for medical procedures until the age of 16 (MIGA, 2011). In any medical procedure, the patient must be informed about any risks and possible complications that may arise during the procedure and must be able to understand these risks and possible
Mohr, M., & Kettler, D. (1997). Ethical aspects of resuscitation. British Journal of Anaesthesia, 253.
Thomson recognizes that this thought experiment has a very limited application – specifically to those instances where a pregnancy is the result of coercion or violence. In the sec...
A. A. The "Best Possible Child" Journal of Medical Ethics 33.5 (2007): 279-283. Web.
In a pre-hospital setting, there are few moments that are as intense as the events that take place when trying to save a life. Family presence during these resuscitation efforts has become an important and controversial issue in health care settings. Family presence during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a relatively new issue in healthcare. Before the advent of modern medicine, family members were often present at the deathbed of their loved ones. A dying person’s last moments were most often controlled by his or her family in the home rather than by medical personnel (Trueman, History of Medicine). Today, families are demanding permission to witness resuscitation events. Members of the emergency medical services are split on this issue, noting benefits but also potentially negative consequences to family presence during resuscitation efforts.
In conclusion, there are numerous legal and ethical issues apparent in the nursing practice. Nurses should study and be as informed as they can with ethics and legality within their field in order to ensure no mistakes occur. Ethical issues vary based on patient’s views, religion, and environment. Nurses are influenced by these same views, but most of the time they are not the same as the patients. As a nurse we must learn to put the care of our patients and their beliefs, rights, and wishes before our own personal