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Deontological Approach

Decent Essays

As chief nephrologist of the legal and ethical hospital, it has come to my attention that our kidney dialysis appointments have a limited availability. A shortage in a key component has made it impossible to acquire more equipment in the immediate future. As of 9/5/2015, there will be a new methodology in place to ensure we are able to provide the greatest amount of good possible for as many patients. Nurses and receptionists will need to inform any patients attempting to schedule an appointment of the new procedures and professionally explain how a shortage of supplies has limited area hospitals.
I considered several different possibilities when deciding on these scheduling procedures. First, I considered a deontological approach. In this …show more content…

My plan is to bring the greatest amount of dialysis to the greatest amount of people. Receptionists and nurses will need to balance the dialysis schedule around getting the most amount of patients the most amount of treatment possible. This will likely mean that many younger people with shorter required treatment times are able to been seen more frequently. The goal of this treatment method is to ensure those with the greatest likelihood of receiving a transplant from a donor can stay in an adequate condition to do. It could be a public relations disaster for our hospital, I can see the headlines saying “elderly die as young patients preempt their care.” People would be in outrage that a doctor, someone who should be ethical, could make the decision to prefer one criteria over another. Society would have to ask themselves some difficult questions about this headline though: would you want your own child preempted for someone else with a much shorter life left? Would you want your parent or grandparent preempted for someone with a much longer life left? Could you accept the reality that the elderly are considerably less likely to ever be selected for transplant? Is it ethical to agree that those with the best chance for survival should be preferred candidates for dialysis? The reality of these circumstances is that a young adult can be given dialysis until a transplant or donor becomes available. The elderly, however, can only be given dialysis. I firmly believe that a doctor who wants to do the most good, for the most amount of people, would choose this option. I also believe that given an opportunity to explain this decision to the general public, they will understand because of the strict guidelines for kidney recipients. I reach the same conclusion from a moral standpoint as well. For example, if younger patients have the best chance of

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