Ethical Dilemmas In Medical 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?

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

This paper will breakdown the difference between clinical and institutional ethics. How this can cause conflict between healthcare and society. Thus, providing an example of how healthcare professionals can be conflicted when trying to provide the best quality care or a compassionate treatment outcome.

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.

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.

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

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.

According to Benatar, the ordinary "standard of care" against which new intercessions are tried in restorative research has not been formally characterized and is typically interpreted as meaning the "best demonstrated treatment" for any condition under scrutiny in a trial (Benatar, 2000).

Two other themes that were mentioned by at least six of out of the thirteen (46%) interviewees were safety and affordability. Although these themes were not as strong in the interviews, they had significant connections to the data in the surveys and community conversations.

Varying departments, universities, and private corporations have different ways in researching and determining the ethical components of their programming. These varying elements can influence communities in many different ways. When examining the values associated, and the public health considerations we must take into account the following values, as outlined by the University of Toronto.

There are more ethical issues in health care then you could imagine, I will introduce three of such issues here in this paper. For starters “Making Basic Health Care Accessible,” today in our society there are many Americans that still lack basic health care. Most travel miles to get proper care, and pay extra out-of-pocket to receive this care. Not only basic health care but durable medical equipment (DME) and radiologic testing.

The medical profession functions on the assumption that there is a pertinent moral difference between killing someone and letting someone die. In this essay I will provide differing philosophical perspectives on the matter before offering my own opinion.

Perhaps the toughest feedback I have ever received came from a well-respected physician who was unsatisfied with his electronic medical records that I prepared for him as a medical scribe. In the middle of a demanding shift, I was confronted about my documentation in which I did not document in a way that was focused on ensuring ‘Level 5’ charting. In other words, the physician gave me feedback on my charting methods and asked me to change the way in which I documented his interactions so that the hospital would receive the most compensation. This request proposed an ethical dilemma for myself as I had observed every interaction between the physician and his patients and knew that my documentation was a genuine attempt to accurately record

Health care professionals often face ethical dilemmas and have to mostly rely on their own judgments when making decisions for their patients. However, the patients often have their own beliefs and decide on what kind of treatments they would like to receive for the sake of their health. As health care professionals try their best to promote the well-being of the patients, they may run into conflicts when the patients disagree with the recommended treatments and forgo any treatments to avoid more suffering and pain. This paper will delve into the issues of the right to refuse life-sustaining treatment

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.