A Brief Note On Medical And Healthcare Ethics

One of the main ethical issues that faces health care is the security of patient information. This information is protected by laws and regulations such as HIPPA, but there are still concerns Scott, et al, 2005). Among those concerns is the new concept of electronic patient records and information. These records are designed to help hospitals and doctors get patient information more quickly, so that patients can receive treatment as soon as possible. Unfortunately, anything kept and transmitted on a computer has the potential to be hacked, so that is a serious concern for patients. Not all patients want their medical records to be available electronically, but they may not have too many options (Romano & Stafford, 2010). Opting out may not be an option for them, and if they do have that option it could reduce the speed and quality of treatment that these patients would receive. Do they want to risk that, just so they can feel as though their medical information is better protected?

Identify and explain two ethical issues/dilemmas in healthcare as identified and discussed in the scholarly literature (ProQuest, EBSCO,

Medical Ethics has been around since the very beginning concepts of medicine. In A Short History of Medical Ethics, Albert R. Jonsen gives a brief 120-page synopsis of the differences and advances in medical ethics through different time periods and cultures. Jonsen jumps from one philosopher to the next, covering the similarities and differences between such a wide ranged topic over time. Throughout the chapters, I did notice that there was one unifying theme that stayed consistent: decorum, deontology, and politic ethics. Decorum is the appropriateness of behavior or conduct, deontology is the study of nature of duty and obligation, and politic ethics is the practice of making moral judgments about political actions.

According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, the Affordable care Act from President Obama gives consumers more options and benefits when seeking coverage from insurance company. It offers lowering cost as well as gets more access to high quality of care. This law creates Patient’s Bill of Rights that is very effective to protect consumers from any abuses or fraud from insurance company. Some preventive services are available to many Americans especially Medicare recipients at no cost. Not just that, they also receive a special offer of 50 percent discount for any well-known drugs in the market place under Medicare named “donut hole.” The Affordable Care Act helps other organizations and programs to convince healthcare providers

Nurses are constantly challenged by changes which occur in their practice environment and are under the influence of internal or external factors. Due to the increased complexity of the health system, nowadays nurses are faced with ethical and legal decisions and often come across dilemmas regarding patient care. From this perspective a good question to be raised would be whether or not nurses have the necessary background, knowledge and skills to make appropriate legal and ethical decisions. Even though most nursing programs cover the ethical and moral issues in health care, it is questionable if new nurses have the depth of knowledge and understanding of these issues and apply them in their practice

(1.1) In the healthcare profession various dilemmas can be encountered, sometimes everyday that put a professional in a position where they must make certain choices that can be classified as difficult or complicated depending on the individual or the situation. In the nursing profession not only do they have to consider the welfare of the patients but they also have to regard their wishes, which may create a conflict of interests in regards to promotion of well-being which would lead to the importance of informed consent. Respect for a person 's autonomy as well as respect for the individual are essential requirements; however so is promoting public interest.

The discussion on Patrick Dismuke's condition concentrated on his incapability to improve. After reviewing his symptoms and considering possible scenarios resulting from certain kinds of treatment, such as the tube that delivered nutrients into his veins that "broke the barrier between blood and air" and became "a bacteria-laden Trojan horse, opening the door to infection", we attempted to come to a consensus on what would constitute a quality life, as deliberated among the committee. We took into consideration that after every kind of surgery, his status would be temporarily improved but ultimately decline in keeping with his body's proclivity. We acknowledged that the idea of a successful stomach transplant was remote since, as

The ethical dilemma I encountered at my placement involves a male in his late-sixties, who has recently suffered a stroke. Mr. A’s situation is unique as he has been unable to speak and his cognitive abilities have declined since. The Fraser Health agency protocol is to contact the patient’s family to determine who would be the temporary substitute decision makers (“Information for temporary substitute,” 2015). The health care consent and care facility admission act describes how decisions are to be made if a patient is determined incapable (Nidus Personal Planning Resource Centre, 2012). The next steps required liaising with the home health team in the community to determine if Mr. A had ever listed any family members as his emergency contacts.

Everyday, healthcare professionals are faced with ethical dilemmas in their workplace. These ethical dilemmas need to be addressed in order to provide the best care for the patient. Healthcare professionals have to weigh their own personal beliefs, professional beliefs, ethical understandings, and several other factors to decide what the best care for their patient might be. This is illustrated in Mrs. Smith’s case. Mrs. Smith is an 85 year old who has suffered from a large stroke that extends to both of her brains hemispheres which has left her unconscious. She only has some brain stem reflexes and requires a ventilator for support. She is unable to communicate how she wishes to proceed with her healthcare. Mrs. Smith’s children, Sara and Frank have different views regarding their mother’s plan of care. The decision that needs to be made is whether to prolong Mrs. Smith’s life, as Sara would like to do, or stop all treatments and care, as Frank feels his mother would want. In the healthcare field, there are situations similar to this case that happen daily where moral and ethical judgment is necessary to guide the decision that would be best for the patient. The purpose of this paper is to explore and discuss, compare and contrast the personal and professional values, ethical principles, and legal issues regarding Mrs. Smith’s quality of life and further plan of care.

At a time when patients’ health record could be accessed by almost everyone who cares for the patients, it brings to one’s attention the ideals proposed by Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, and the other philosophers and ethicists (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2015). One has to understand though, that in spite of the great headway that the Health Information Technology (HIT) has come to, there are certain worldviews on “basic values that remain unchanged, the standards for living out these values will take on new meanings as professionals confront new and different moral dilemmas brought on by the adoption of technological tools for information management” (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2015, p. 68).

Health and healthcare systems interrelate with the economy to determine if accessibility to health care should be provided based on individual's need or ability to pay (“Achieving Equity,” n.d.). The role of receiving health care is to ensure that equal access to health services does not differ depending on individual's economic or social status (Merson, Black, & Mills, 2012, pg. 624). To underline this debate, there are views on the ethical basis of a health system. The first view discussed on how access to health services is similar to access to other goods. For example, people in poverty-stricken communities receiving government assistance for clothing or food based off of the economic level. According to this view, every individual should

Ethical standards for all healthcare professions include principles of informed consent, veracity, and beneficence to provide best care (Kornblau & Burkhart, 2012). However, the definition of best practice can still differ among patients depending on their diagnosis, age, personality, and personal culture. Best practice gets further complicated when the patient is a child. The law concerning medical decisions for children states that children are unable to make their own decisions soundly (Goldstein, 1977). A parent must stand in as the decision-maker giving consent to treatments. Parents have the right to establish and dictate the course of healthcare without interference by the state. Parents can choose to accept or decline treatments,

We test animals, and as a result, there is ongoing debate. There are alternatives but they are still developing and aren’t always available. So when we do have to test, for things such as medicine, there are rules. Reduce, Refine, and Replace. Also known as the three R’s, this is a more humane way to test on animals. Reduce being they reduce the amount of animals to use in the tests. Refine is a test method that refines animal use; and replace is replacing animals for systems such as computer models, biomedical or cell-based

Before, animal experimentation was something that people needed to do to find cures but it is not needed anymore. “For many laboratory scientists, this waning approval isn't cause for concern, because a near-identical trend is emerging within the research community, and more and more U.S. labs are using innovative cross-disciplinary technologies to spare at least some of the 25 million animals used for research annually”(Ericson).Now, in the 21st century scientist have developed countless things that can be used for experimentation than animals. So many labs and scientists are using theses new ways to end animal experimentation. Also, scientist can test and do experiments for countless things without worrying about laws and the amount of animals that are dying now.“The innovation takes the place of animal mediums: Instead of running the drug through an animal liver, a chemist can now force the drug to react with the chemosynthetic liver. "(Ericson).This is just one of the things that scientist have discovered to do experimentation with animals. This method is so much better than using animals. This is not just beneficial to animals but it is also beneficial to scientist because now they can know more about what is happening when they test things. These new ways of experimenting do not just save the lives of animals but they also help scientist do

It is important that we act in a way that is ethical, legal, and commendable. Medical professionals struggle with healthcare dilemmas that are not experienced by the general public. Medical-ethical decisions have become increasingly complicated with the advancement of medical science and technology. (Fremgen) Just like the government has laws for citizens, not having laws in healthcare would allow people to do anything they want. It is important that we study the ethics and laws of healthcare, because if we were put in a situation it is essential that we know the difference between right and wrong. In the article I found, it talks about a nurse who refuses to give CPR to an older woman who collapsed in a senior residence where she works. This article has many more ethical issues than legal issues.