Bioethics on Nbc's Er: Betraying Trust or Providing Good Care

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?

In the late summer of August 2005 the Gulf Coast was preparing for a hurricane that no one ever imagined would be such a detriment to the beloved town of New Orleans, LA. Hurricane Katrina was a category five hurricane, according to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. On August 29, 2005 Katrina made land fall as a category three hurricane with wind speeds around one hundred and forty miles per hour. Evacuation efforts in the state of Louisiana were non-existent for many families including the local hospitals and nursing homes. The hospitals became shelters for the surrounding nursing home facilities, current patients, the staff, families of the staff, and even pets. One of the most unethical debates from this disaster occurred in a local hospital where patients were given lethal doses of drugs and euthanized by Dr. Anna Pou. The conditions at Memorial Hospital were anything but ideal, but no person is obligated to decide who survives and who perishes.

Ethics are a set of moral principles that serve as a guiding philosophy for behavior. Consequently it is not a surprise that ethical dilemmas occur daily in the health care setting. Any nurse who refuses to provide care for a patient faces an ethical dilemma (Kuhn, 2012, pp. 412-418). The reasons given for refusal range anywhere from a conflict of personal values to fear of personal risk of injury. Nurses do have the right, at times, to refuse patient care assignments. The decision to accept or reject an assignment must be based upon a judgment by the nurse of the nurse 's ability to provide competent patient care. This paper aims to show both sides of the argument when it comes to nurses refusing a patient assignment. One side believes that nurses has the right to refuse patient assignment, as they must be true to themselves if they want to perform their best on the job. On the other hand, the other side believes that it is the nurse’s responsibility to care for all patients and, therefore nurses cannot simply refuse a patient.

This paper explores several published articles following the national program, Transforming care at the Bedside (TCAB), developed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI); and how it supports the ethical principles of patient autonomy, beneficence, and nonmaleficence in patients, especially amongst the geriatric population. By describing and focusing on three main points of the TCAB, safe and reliable care, patient-centered care, and value-added care and their relative goals and high leverages; this will show how they benefit the

In today’s health care industry, mechanical restraints are often used to maintain patients’ behavior and ensure their safety when treating the elderly and the severely ill (Gatsmans & Milisen, 2006). There are many variations of mechanical restraints, but all are defined as “any device, material or equipment attached to or near a person 's body and which cannot be controlled or easily removed by the person and which deliberately prevents or is deliberately intended to prevent a person 's free body movement to a position of choice and/or a person 's normal access to their body” (Gatsmans & Milisen, 2006, p.

According to Morrison E. And Furlong B. (2014), hospital ethics committee is one of the most important group that exist within a health care organization. Today, ethics committee are become more of use due to ongoing ethical conflicts. In addition, more health care organizations such as, hospitals, nursing homes facilities, and managed care are reaching out to this group for better assistance (Morrison E. & Furlong B. 2014). It is also understood that ethics committee serve major roles including, developing standards and policies, improve and promote education, and orchestrating clinical consultations. The underlying goals of traditional ethics committees are: to promote the rights of patients; to promote shared decision making between patients,

I talked with a couple of mental health professionals within the local area in which I live, I asked each of them form their perspective weather or not they work with insurance companies, what are the advantages of insurance panels, what are the struggles. One of the mental health care professional stated that some of the disadvantage being involved with insurance panels is the enormous amount of paper work that involved that must be prepared. This was one of her most frustration in work with insurance planes other than waiting to paid especially when it come third party payer. Also, the amount of wages which is non-negotiable, because the insurance company set their own pay rates which is considerably less that

The table presents an overview of child development from birth to nineteen years of age. The time frames are averages and children may achieve the developmental milestones earlier or later but still be what is considered ‘normal’.

In the Healthcare field there are ethical issues that arise daily. From balancing care quality to determining end of life issues, healthcare professionals are constantly trying to find a place of balance. Healthcare professionals do not have an easy job, they face challenging decisions every single day determining what is best for the patient and the organization. When an ethical dilemma arises within a healthcare organization, ethical decision making can help make an onerous decision easier.

Medical ethics and legal issues have been a key topic in medical field for many years now. It is important for medical professionals to understand the importance of the way we care for patients, it is therefore important to be knowledgeable and aware of the medical ethics and legal issues that govern good patient care. Health care professionals must make decisions based on ethical and legal issues to performance their regular duties. However, Medical ethics is not only about avoiding harm to patients. It is rather a norms, values and principles (Ethical theories 2015). Therefore norms, values and principles are intended to govern medical ethical conduct. Ethics is defined as “a standard of behaviour and a concept of right and wrong beyond what the legal consideration is in any given situation”. In another words medical ethics is a discipline that used to handle moral problems coming out the care of patients. Law is another important discipline that often comes together with medical ethics. Law defined as a “rule of conduct or action prescribed or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority”. Government imply law to keep the society running smoothly and to control behaviour that could threaten public safety. Medical professionals have to often prioritise these terms before making any clinical decision. The following findings will constructively emphasise on medical ethics, its

Healthcare professionals will be faced with ethical dilemmas throughout their career, particularly in the hospital environment. Having an education regarding professional healthcare ethics will provide some direction in how to best address these dilemmas at a time when either the patient or their family is in need of making decisions for themselves or their family member. It can be difficult for healthcare professionals to weigh professional protocol against their own personal beliefs and ethical understandings when determining critical care for their patient.

When looking at the emergency room physician actions in how they relate to the ethical principles of autonomy, non-maleficence, respect for persona and veracity. Autonomy refers to a patient has the right to choice in the decisions regarding their own health care. In this scenario the physician did not respect Ms. Y wishes when being placed on a ventilator nor, did they explained the risks and the possibly outcome to Mrs. X, for her to make an informed decision in regards to her daughters care, they simply stated that it was for comfort. Non-maleficence refers to not causing harm to Ms. Y. (Stanford, 2017) However, when looking at if Ms. Y was harmed by being placed on a ventilator, I would has to say no, however, when looking at in how it

Unique ethical issues arise in the practice of emergency medicine, and common ethical problems are often more difficult to address in the emergency department than in other medical settings (Pauls, McRae, Campbell & Dungey, 2004). I have worked in Emergency rooms myself both in a combat zone and in garrison where we would provide care to civilian contractors. McAfee health clinic ER was a quiet place but when we received patients it was serious. The population there were of an older group with obvious obesity problems consequently, cardiac patients, diabetes, and falls were our main problems. This base was an extremely small community and everyone knew each other therefore, it is why protecting patient privacy was even more of a major goal

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.

It is accepted that the advances in resuscitation techniques, initiated and influenced the evolution of bioethics by bringing to the fore the questions of: