Ethical and Legal Concepts in Healthcare

Healthcare has been a long standing battle for the United States. The need to provide access

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

The American Health Care system needs to be constantly improved to keep up with the demands of America’s health care system. In order for the American Health Care system to improve policies must be constantly reviewed. Congress still plays a powerful role in public policy making (Morone, Litman, & Robins, 2008). A health care policy is put in place to reach a desired health outcome, which may have a meaningful effect on people. People in position of authority advocates for a new policy for the group they have special interest in helping. The Health care system is formed by the health care policy making process (Abood, 2007). There are public, institutional, and business policies related to health care developed by hospitals, accrediting organizations, or managed care organizations (Abood, 2007). A policy is implemented to improve the health among people in the United States. Some policies

In the hospital area itself we must give patients a clear written explanation of the allowable uses and disclosures of their personal health information. We make them sign giving us permission to share their information with other health personal. They must acknowledge a notice of the hospitals privacy policies they are not chastised if they do not sign and may still be treated.

Health care in America is a continuous fight and has become a daily hot topic with every news outlet. Even politicians use it to secure their role in congress. Sadly, as a powerful force of a nation the United States (U.S.) plays against and for other nations, the American people’s health care system is broken at the moment. There is continuous chatter about making improvement but nothing is being done to correct it. American public health is in a desperate state and a cry for help because as a nation the American public health is at it’s lowest. Issues need to be corrected and mandates need to be made with Affordable Care Act (ACA), in-order for improvements to be made with the current American's public health system.

Our healthcare system needs major restructuring. Major improvements needs to begin with "all health care organizations, professional groups, and private and public purchasers should adopt as their explicit purpose to continually reduce the burden of illness, injury, and disability, and to improve the health and functioning of the people of the United States", (Crossing the ……, 2001).

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

The future of healthcare if left as is, the system will falter and eventually, a new reform will be realized as necessitous (Garman, Butler , & Brinkmeyer, 2006). When the system proposed fail to meet

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

Any member within the healthcare environment may be conflicted with some ethical decisions that have to be made. Ethics committees have been developed, and are required due to the number of ethical issues that present daily within hospitals and other health institutions. These committees are comprised of persons who assist patients, their families, and healthcare personnel in identifying, understanding, and quickly resolving ethical issues. Policies, procedures, and ethic codes are formulated around moral principles of beneficence, autonomy, non-maleficence, and justice.

Department of Health & Human Services. (2011). National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Healthcare. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

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.

Despite Trinity's plans to go ahead with work, having developed a five-year plan that lays out what would be accomplished in a certain bracket of time, the truth remains that healthcare does not operate in a vacuum. Trends that emerge in the national market are influenced by legislation, delivery of care, changes in payment methods, and social and economic conditions. Healthcare professionals monitor policy at the national level by reviewing legislative initiatives and analyzing rules and regulations. Understanding healthcare policy helps in facilitating grant reviews and in developing program initiatives,

The health care industry continually deals with the lives of individuals and is bound by the ethical and legal aspects that influence decisions of health care professionals in their clinical practice. This essay aims to discuss the various issues and ethical dilemmas that arise with regards to the consent of consumers. In the attempt to explore these points, different literatures are used to shed light on this topic. This paper begins by defining what consent is and the role of nurses or the health care team in being an advocate of the patient when requiring consent. It moves on with the discussion of ethical frameworks, which are recognized nationally and internationally, as these carry significant influences in health care decision-making. The essay also brings out the essence of ethical theories and its relevance to consent giving. It then tackles the similarities and differences of the Code of Ethics and ethical guidelines relevant to both nursing and midwives as both professions work closely in the care of mothers, children and families. Issues and views from experienced professionals in these fields are presented and critically compared. It then considers both ethical and legal aspects, which seeks arguments and rational implications. The last topic points to the social and spiritual factors pertinent to consent that impact the society particularly on the care of patients and concludes by summarising discussed points and arguments about consent.

One of the most important realizations I have made during my educational journey is the knowledge that I cannot memorize all content. Due to this fact, having easy access to resources as needed is of great benefit. Knowing that there are varied and complex issues in the Ethics of Health Care, below are seven websites to use as a reference: