Ethical Issues In Health And Social Care

1. Is there an ethical violation, dilemma or concern and, if so, what is it?

In health and social care, four key Ethical Principles that are taken into account during these settings. Which are:

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?

Ethics are statements written that mirrors the principles of society it reflects society’s views of what is right or humanitarian. However, morals are not written and are codes setting out what is thought to be good enough or offensive behaviour.

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

Running a business in multicultural Ireland requires a company to address the issues that diversity and multiculturalism can bring. A company like Highfield Healthcare would have to look closely at best practices in the area of cultural diversity and multiculturalism. Highfield would have to look at how employee’s best work with persons of different cultural and ethnic background. A person’s culture affects decisions concerning end of life care, diet, treatment and recreational activities. These issues will change how Highfield Healthcare runs their business. Below are some examples.

Advocacy ensures that people who are vulnerable have a voice for the voiceless on their behalf for the injustice and policies that may impact them directly. Advocacy is helping or assisting an individual in acquiring the services they need. “Advocacy involves stepping forward on behalf of the client to promote fair and equitable treatment or gain needed resources” (Zastrow, 2013, p. 46). When advocating these issues can make the difference between a child being in a good position to make healthy choices in their life.

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

Ethically physicians are required to provide an appropriate plan of care for all of their patients without insurance bias. The discrimination lies in the fact that most uninsured patients cannot follow the plan of care they have received. The Kaiser Family Foundation found that, “uninsured adults were three times as likely as adults with private coverage to say they postponed or did not get a needed prescription drug due to cost” (2015). This creates problems for both the patient and the hospital/place where treatment was provided. If the patient cannot afford the proper post care, the patient's condition will worsen. The patient will have to decide to either go to the ER or continue on due to the fear of a high bill. The Kaiser Family Found:

The conflict is the annual budget is being finalized soon, and yet two projects are competing for roughly the same amount of money. However, only one of them can be done this year. As the CEO, Ms. New shall write a position paper describing her recommendation(s), based on ethical principles. Please use at least two (2) moral terms and support your position with at least two (2) outside resources. Please follow MLA formatting.

Ethics are rules of conduct and moral principles of an individual which have various origins such as family, culture, and social environment. Given the diversity of people in the healthcare profession and the importance of providing care that is ethically sound

Pertaining to this case challenging social injustice is the ethical responsibility that we are focusing on. “Social workers pursue social change, particularly with and on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups of people” (NASW, 2008, Ethical Principals Section, para 2). It is our duty as a social worker to advocate and fight for children, not only when children have been subject to abuse and neglect but also when they are removed from their family of origin and placed in foster care. Schagrin (2007) states:

I have spent a good deal of time in the past week reflecting on my emergency medicine clerkship experience, specifically in regards to illustrative ethical situations I have encountered. Despite by best efforts, I could not come up with a true “ethical dilemma” I encountered, in the sense that there was never a situation in which there was significant doubt or disagreement between the healthcare team and/or patients and their families about the proper or ethical course of action. In many ways, this is fortunate. Nevertheless, there were several cases that did serve to illustrate some of the core ethical principles in action that would be useful to discuss. One in particular that comes to mind involves the question of advanced directives and

When a child is being mistreated at home or the teacher suspect the parents of being abusive towards the child, s/he calls the social services department to report the case. As a result, the social services department appoints a social worker to investigate the case. The function of social workers is to help the people in need, to help people overcome life’s struggle. It is also the social worker’s job to make sure that people are not being abused. Additionally, Social workers advocate for those in needs and without a voice. Social workers have to be ethical, respectable, trustworthy, reliable, honest and non-bias within their work. Social workers find a way to make society a better trusting place. It is also a social worker’s job to make sure the people in needs are being treated in a humane way. Lastly, social workers make a difference in society by changing people’s lives.

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.