The case study goes as such: Mr. Martinez was a seventy-five year old COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) patient. He was in the hospital because of an upper respiratory tract infection. He and his wife had already requested that CPR should not be performed if he required it and a DNR is placed in his charts. While in his room on third floor, being maintained with antibiotics, fluids, and oxygen and seemed to be doing better. However, Mr. Martinez’s oxygen was inadvertently turned up, causing him to go into respiratory failure. This scenario in my opinion causes for drastic measures and I personally feel like his wishes should be overthrown by what the caring physician sees ethically and morally right. The doctor should look at all the circumstances in front of themselves and make an ethical decision. Mr. Martinez was previously being treated and had been improving. Although some may argue that he already has a disease that could be terminal. Looking at the bigger picture of the situation that he was being treated for the upper respiratory infection and he was progressing. I believe he should be transferred to intensive care so that his oxygen level can be monitored and his respiratory failure be treated by a ventilator.…
Ethics is defined by moral philosophy and study of what is right, fair, just and good: about what should be done, not just what is most acceptable or expedient (ref). The four principles of ethics are autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence and justice. In this report the ethical principle of non-maleficence, where the health care practices and obligations are to do no willful harm, execute no negligence or malpractice under the legislation duty of care (REF). These ethics will be used in conjunction with each other to relate to the professional ethical behavior in the pathology laboratory. In this case scenario a patient has arrived in the emergency department requiring an urgent blood transfusion;…
In this scenario, Jamilah Shah, a 90-year-old Turkish immigrant who speaks basic English, was admitted to the hospital after collapsing in her bed in an ECF. Tests and labs show that Jamilah had a heart attack. She has no advanced directives on file and her youngest son, Bashir, is her emergency contact. The healthcare team is divided on how to proceed with treatment, as Bashir is requesting only comfort care, while her social service worker is advocating for medical intervention based on their duty of care and Jamilah's desire to live with this statement "please help me, I want to live." The ethical dilemmas in this scenario include autonomy, non-maleficence, and beneficence.…
Dilemmas that may arise between the duty of care and an Individuals rights. Despite all the efforts of healthcare providers to ensure an Individual receives the best possible care there might arise conflicts and dilemmas between healthcare worker & service user. Those conflicts may include: refusing a meal, type of activity, refusing medication or a treatment. Arising conflicts should be resolved as quickly as possible in a most satisfactory manner for both sides. The Human Rights Acts states that every person has the right to decide about their own life, they can refuse the treatments & medication they receive. It is essential to explain why they need that particular care & make them aware of pros and cons.…
In the health care field there will always be ethical dilemmas to contend with and the majority of these are the most difficult to imagine. In this case, a 96 year old male cancer patient is receiving naturopathic treatment from his daughter who happens to be a physician in that field. This has caused conflict between the daughter and the regular physicians due to the fact that they feel she may be causing her father unnecessary pain as well as speeding up his death. The scope of healthcare ethics encompasses the decision making process and how it relates to what is right and what is wrong. Therefore it is important…
Ethical health care topics vary in the news and media currently in the healthcare field. Many health care issues can involve the patient’s care, or the policies set forth by healthcare regulatory agencies. In many instances, ethical issues can arise during a patient’s treatment when religious or cultural discrepancies arise that would affect the manner in which the patient receives their care. Ethical issues such as religious beliefs that may cause the patient to decline life-saving treatment can create conflict between not only the patient’s personal values, but also those of the caregiver proving treatment.…
Clinicians are expected to provide medical services to help others. However, there is a debate about whether clinicians should treat friends and family, members also known as non-patients. “Treatment of non-patients is widespread, with some studies reporting nearly 100 percent of physicians engaging in this practice” (Latessa & Ray, 2005, p.42). A case was presented where a physician assistant (PA Brian) was asked to treat his supervising physician (Dr.Yarnell) for different medical conditions while prescribing multiple controlled substances. Legal standards provide vague ethical guidance regarding this issue and leave a lot of blank spaces open for clinician interpretation. In Dr.Yarnell and PA Brian’s case there were numerous ethical dilemmas that can be examined under the four ethical principles of medicine: beneficence, nonmaleficence, respect for autonomy, and justice.…
It should be noted that the core values pertaining to healthcare ethics require the healthcare staff to adhere to the four principles of autonomy, beneficence, justice and nonmaleficence. Autonomy or independence revolves around honoring the right of patients to make their decisions, whole nonmaleficence revolves around doing no harm. Beneficence underlines the requirement that the patient is assisted to advance his own good, while the principle of justice requires all patients to be treated in a similar and fair manner. In essence, it goes without saying that the healthcare institution was acting in violation of the same principles that it is supposed to adhere to in the provision of healthcare services to patients. Of course, it could be argued that the healthcare institution was operating within the established laws of the state and possibly the country at large. However, it should be noted that the key right of the patient and, in fact, every other citizen in the country is to ensure that no harm is caused to the patient and that the autonomy and independence of the citizen and patient to make decisions pertaining to his or her life is nonnegotiable. Indeed, scholars have…
The topics that will be discussed in this paper will be the ethical decisions that have to be made by Dr. F and the RN in regards to disclosing information to Dr. J. Also, according to the NANDA nursing diagnosis for ethical consideration, Dr. F and the RN also have to consider if Mrs. Z has some knowledge deficits in regards to her prognosis and if due to her culture, she feels powerlessness towards her diagnosis. Ethical theories are important to justifying and relating situations in nursing. In this paper, there will be discussions relating ethical theories to nursing, as well as, ethical decision making models that will relate to the delivery of healthcare.…
Every patient requires different care, with differing values and beliefs. As a result, healthcare providers will be challenged with ethical dilemmas on the basis of beneficence, nonmaleficence, and social justice.…
There are many ethical health care issues that arise within the United States on daily. The purpose of this paper is to give the readers an understanding of forced patient repatriation and how it not only affects the patient, but the patient’s family, and the community as a whole. The four ethical principles autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice will be addressed and how forced patient repatriation is affected by these four principles.…
Promoting patient’s autonomy is showing a sense of respect the patients. This can be violated very easy, it is the nurse responsibility to provide some sort of safety to prevent this from occurring. By educating the patients is recommended in all healthcare environment. When these patients understand that they have the right to their medical information, and also they have right to make any decision, they will be able to advocate themselves and prevent it. Educating the patient as a preventive measure that will also prevent any ethical dilemma advanced practice nurses’ moral distress. As a result, this can be done by explaining to the patient all the legal aspect while they are in the hospital. Another recommendation that could be made to prevent the violation of patient veracity and autonomy which may resolve advanced practice nurses’ moral distress in the dilemma, the healthcare providers should always encourage patients to seek care that promotes the individual patient’s medical interests. It might be thought that this approach fails to respect patient autonomy.…
At many times, patients come in unconscious or with altered mental status. Many patients come in with major injury or trauma. When trauma comes in the nursing staff has little information about the patient. In a lot of cases, the nurse has very little time to gather data about the patient coming into the ED. Nurses have to perform invasive procedures without consent. Some patients require CPR and later the staff find the patient was a DNR. Even though the outcome was not what should have been, the nurse has to reflect beneficence, what is in the best interest of the patient, do good for each patient in their care. Patients need advocates and somebody to promote the patients’ rights. These are just a few of the ethical and legal issues in the emergency…
In consequentialism, the consequence of an action justifies the means from an acceptable moral standpoint (PHG Foundation, n.d.). The fact that the family is considering prenatal testing is appropriate due to the suspicions of complications or abnormalities that if identified early can result in positive outcomes. The four principles of Bioethics are autonomy, the right of individuals to make their own decisions; nonmaleficence, one should avoid causing harm; beneficence, positive steps should taken to help others; and justice, the benefits and risks should be fairly distributed (PHG Foundation, n.d.). The nurse can provide autonomy by supporting the right for the family to consider prenatal testing. Nonmaleficence can be exhibited by the nurse by explaining the risks and benefits of the procedure and allowing the family time to weigh the options without feeling pressured. Beneficence is demonstrated by the nurse when giving the patient the appropriate information and education about the procedure and by assisting with any questions, concerns or potential ethical issues. As the nurse, healthcare providers and the family discuss the best possible intervention after considering all benefits and risks is considered…
The three ethical principles that seem to be of most relevance in this case are beneficence, fidelity, and autonomy. In regards to the patient, I believe that beneficence and autonomy apply to her situation because she was alert and oriented. Although she was diagnosed as “confused” by the psychologist, she kept answering “no” when asked if she wanted the ventilator to be removed, thus, demonstrating that she understood the meaning of that action. The critical care…