Durable Power Of Attorney Chapter Summaries

The three chapters that were assigned were about the following: the history of health care and becoming a health care worker today, patient rights and legality, and the ethics of health care workers. In chapter one, the history of health care discussed in depth. For example, many people who invented or thought of things that could benefit the medical world were discussed, and the comparison of how the person’s thoughts and/or inventions still impact the medical world today. The chapter walked the reader through each other the significant time periods (ancient, dark/middle ages, renaissance, etc.) I think one of the biggest things that stuck out to me was how things that happened hundreds of years ago are influencing how medicine is practiced
today. The chapter also covered how to look and be the part of a health care worker. Appearance, hygiene, behavior, and body language were all covered. All of these things are extremely important for coming across as experienced, professional, and like the worker knows what they’re doing. If any of the preceding characteristics are not upheld, it’s very easy to be disregarded. The fifth chapter covered patient rights and legality issues, which is an important topic overall.
Some of the legality parts of health care include: HIPAA, confidentiality, Durable Power of Attorney, living wills. If any of the aforementioned are violated, the person/facility could face extreme lawsuits. A durable power of attorney is someone that the patient has legally appointed to make health care decisions for the patient in case they lose the ability to make decisions for themselves. The durable power of attorney is important for people to have because without them, no one would be treated and there would be a massive increase in deaths due to the fact that many people would be at a standstill between family and doctors. Families would want to do specific things but doctors cannot legally listen to them. The final chapter talks mostly about the ethics of health care workers. These include making sure that the patient is treated fairly. It also makes sure that the health care worker themselves is upholding the best of the best values; that they treat everyone with dignity and they provide the best service. One of these values would be communication. Communication is key when dealing with patients. They need to feel like they are trusted, important, and cared for. Having excellent communication can ensure that the health care worker is serving the facility and patients to the best of their
ability. The past three chapters were a great introduction to have when someone is first becoming a health care worker. All of the topics covered are vital to succeeding in the medical world. They can be applied to a medical career no matter the experience level or field.