Explain Why Children Should Have A Role In Medical Decision Making

This takes action to ensure children and their families know what their rights are and how to put this entitlement into practice. Children are empowered to secure their rights and make their voice heard. Young children can be represented by an advocate to speak and interpret on their behalf.

As Albert Einstein once said, “The only source of knowledge is experience.” Seeing that I agree with Einstein, I stand in firm negation of today's resolution which states Resolved: Adolescents ought to have the right to make autonomous medical choices. For simplicity in the debate today, I would like to give the following definition from the Black’s Law Dictionary: Adolescence is the age which follows puberty and precedes the age of majority. It commences for males at 14, and for females at 12 year completed. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s dictionary says that the word ought is used to indicate a desirable or expected state. Autonomous, as defined by the Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, is having the freedom to act independently. The negative will support the value of paternalism, which as defined by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, is the interference of a state or an individual with another person, against their will, and defended or motivated by a claim that the person interfered with will be better off or protected from harm. The value of paternalism will be defended with the criterion of knowledge and experience.

The children act 1989 has influenced some settings by bringing together several sets of guidance and provided the foundation for many of the standards practitioners sustain and maintain when working with children. The act requires that settings work together in the best interests of the child and form partnerships with parents or carers. It requires settings to have appropriate adult to child ratios and policies and procedures on child protection. This act has had an influence in all areas of practice from planning a curriculum and record keeping. The every child matters framework has

The following scenario explores the legal and ethical decisions involved with a pediatric patient. A six year old boy suffering from Sickle cell anemia is brought to the hospital with a crisis. During a sickle cell anemia crisis, red blood cells are damaged and they are unable to deliver oxygen to the body. The standard treatment is oxygen, hydration, blood replacements and exchange transfusion (Anita, 2006). The pediatric patient was admitted in critical condition and a blood transfusion is necessary. Parents stated they want to save their child and will accept any type of treatment except for blood products.

Throughout history there has been many ethical dilemmas that have resulted in change, and many that have still not been resolve. These dilemmas often result in controversial issues arising, and both sides of the spectrum arguing as to which proposed idea is the morally correct one. Today, there is an enormous controversy in the ethical dilemma involving child care. This issue revolves around whether the views of the parents should be upheld when their child is in danger medically. To further assess the impact of this ethical dilemmas, a case study involving the treatment implemented on a child by a physician while opposing the views and wishes held by the parents will be analyzed in terms of the ethics of the situation, the stakeholders, values,

One reason why teenagers should have the right to confidential medical treatments is so they can deal with their issues as effectively and timely as possible. When minors present their medical problems to their physicians, some of them can be emergencies. These situations can appear in a circumstance such as the patient waiting so long to get a doctor’s opinion of their illness or injury that they are at risk of serious consequences if it is not treated immediately. In some cases, there is no time to receive parental consent or approval, and medical procedure must happen as soon as possible. The patient is most desperate for attention in emergency situations and they should be able to consent to procedures so that they can be performed quickly. “Emergency physicians shall

Contrasts those who argue that it violates the child’s human rights and is for the sake of convenience for the parents, versus those who argue that this treatment is in the best interest of the child because it will provide better quality of life (Clark & Vista, 2007).

The dignity and freedom of a patient should be respected so that people can make their own choices and develop their own life plans in the context of the society they belong to. . An individual has every right to take their own choices. A health care provider cannot treat a patient without his or her permission. If the patient is unable give the consent, then a lawful surrogate can provide consent. A lawful surrogate requires certain criteria like competence or has decision making capacity and is capable of realizing the consequence of consent. The consent from the patient may be implicit or explicit depending on the seriousness of health issues. Serious health issues like intrusive procedures

The chapter starts the legal issues with sterilization, which is defined as preventing production by surgeries like vasectomy, oophorectomy, orchiectomy, salpingectomy, etc. These procedures can be perform voluntarily by choice with informed consent and compulsorily to prevent inheriting diseases – Not anymore. Another theme is wrongful birth for disable child and wrongful life, which cases brought behalf of the child because of physicians’ negligence. As mentioned in the text, most of courts decided that physicians are liable and responsible for wrongful birth within the statue of limitation to bring the case. However, only 4 states found that physicians are also liable for wrongful life. Dr. Horvath gave one example previously, which is that

In nursing, it is not uncommon to encounter situations where nurses must make ethical decisions based on legal and ethical principles. These situations often are seen in pediatric nursing when there are conflicting views between the parents and their child. For example, Mike is a 15-year-old boy who has been diagnosed again with acute myelocytic leukemia (AML) and is to continue another taxing round of chemotherapy. Mike confines to his nurse he would like to discontinue treatment. Meanwhile, his parents are adamant that treatment continues. The nurse must make the decision whether to terminate or continue with Mike’s chemotherapy.

In recent years, the controversy of parental rights in the refusal and consent to medical treatment for their child is at the forefront. It is generally agreed that the parents’ rights to consent or refusal of treatment should be limited to those decisions that are in the child’s best interest. Yet the notion of “best interests” is very difficult to determine and define. Although parents have the legal obligation to ensure the welfare of their child and to not take actions that may cause them harm, the medical decision making process has particular ambiguity. For instance, what types of decisions

The four ethical principles of Beauchamp and Childress’s framework are essential in the medical decision making for adolescent patients. Those bioethics principles include justice, beneficence, non-maleficence, and autonomy (Ishibashi, Lewis, & Baker, 2016). Generally, all patients regardless of their age should be involved in their care along with their families. Moreover, patients are entitled to certain degree of autonomy or assent according to their cognitive levels, which involve self-determination of providing informed consent and accepting or refusing treatment (Ivey & Browen, 2012). For many years, there was a growing literature to support adolescences involvement in clinical decision making of their care. In 2000, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child added articles 12 and 13 states that all children have the right to convey their thoughts and express their opinion openly. Those articles obligate governments to establish reinforcement of autonomy. In light of the ethical and legal obligations pediatric health care providers modified the respect of minor’s autonomy principle. This modification addresses the developmental cognitive capacity in adolescent population to establish the legal responsibility of minor’s decision making. Adolescents intellectual growth and ability to analyze all the benefits, risks and treatment goals must be

Paternal aspects of healthcare, where higher authority mandates a specific task or trial, are forever at conflict with individual liberties. By mandating infant

Under s.60 of the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, an individual “(a) is liable, on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding $500,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or to both; or (b) is liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding $250,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding four years, or to both” for not complying with the guidelines set out regarding the duties of the reproduction of a child. A surrogate mother is defined as a woman who carries a fetus conceived through an assisted reproduction procedure which is derived from the genes of a donor or donors, and with the intent of surrendering such child at the time of birth (AHRA, 2004). However, there is still ambiguity felt between surrogates and parents related to what the law sets out as their legal duties in conceiving a child, and this is also pertinent in relation to the context of a working contract. Having said that, this essay aims at addressing the unclarity, pointing to the main arguments in favor of the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, and how the decision was aimed to safeguard the rights of those involved; including the child, and to prevent culpability issues within the health sector and many others linked to the overall process.

Thanks for choosing to tackle an important ethical dilemma with such serious consequences and ramifications for both, the parents or legal guardians as well as the underage patient. I appreciated the background and the framework you provided as far as the funding availability for the provision of care to this minor, which has a significant impact independent of values and beliefs. Your respect for patient's rights, confidentiality, and well-being independent of your personal beliefs is admirable. That is a quality that I hold dear when providing patient care and expect to refine further in order to best serve my patients in a manner that is unbiased, ethical, and free of personal influences.