Minor 's Autonomy And Health Care

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.

There is little evidence of what it was really like in the past so it is difficult for a lot of people to re-construct the life of a child, however from what I have researched, and in my own opinion I am going to summarise the historical changes in childhood experience and relate these changes to childhood development and rights.

But children are a special case they cannot always stand up for themselves. They therefore need a special set of rights which take in to consideration their vulnerability and which ensures the adults that surround them take responsibly for their welfare, protection and development.

When the children are incapable, nurses have moral responsibility to assist parents in decision making in the children's best interest. "Substituting an adult judgement of what is in a child’s best interest is not necessarily equivalent with the child’s best interest (Coyne and Harder, 2011)." Acting in a child’s best interest requires parents and health professionals to take children's view seriously and give priority consideration to the impact of their decisions on children (Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children (CCRC). The adults have responsibilities towards their children to enable them in making decision but they do not have rights to make decision for their children (Lowden, 2002). Children should not be viewed as property. The first step in protecting the rights of children as outlined in the CRC is to view them as citizens (Van Daalen-Smith, 2010). When parents claim that the child belongs to them, they are establishing an ownership notion. Children should be respected as active contributor not as passive recipient of the health care (Maconochie and McNeill, 2010). Therefore, parental role in decision making for their children should be complementary not

Safeguarding the welfare of children and young people is extremely important. It involves more than just protecting children from abuse – it also includes promoting their interests, keeping them safe and protecting their rights.

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

More than ever, Child protection is a topical issue. That’s why many years ago the British government, aware of the fragility and vulnerability of children to adults, has implemented a number of laws relating to children and young people in the UK. These laws are made to define the inherent right of children, and also to define the implication of their rights for all those responsible of or using any childhood services; but more specifically what we will see through the legislation concerning the rights of children, is how they may impact the work of childcarers, how they can

The main legislation in our county that supports the rights of children is Children Act 1989. According to Penny Tassoni, ‘this act is a result of the UK government adopting the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child, new legislation was required. The 1989 Children Act also made it clear that children’s and young people’s views had to be taken into consideration when decisions about their future were being made.’ The key elements to this legislation are:

Some of the current legislations include the “United Nations Convention in the Rights of the child 1989” which is the act that gives the right to protection from abuse, the right to express their views and have their

Healthcare professionals have an ethical obligation to respect patient’s wishes. Consequently, many legal and ethical dilemmas arise in healthcare in response to clinical decisions related to the needs, beliefs, and preferences of patients and families. Other dilemmas result over concerns about the integrity, competence, or actions of other healthcare professionals. Preserving human dignity, relieving suffering, equality, integrity, and accountability are essential nursing values (Kangasniemi, Pakkanen, & Korhonen, 2015). Nurse leaders have an

Today nurses in all roles participate in ethical decision making arising from mortality, relationships, and conduct issues surrounding patient care and families. This is particularly the situation with ethical issues involving pediatrics and those unable to take their own decisions. While the patients’ interests should come first, there are many other factors that come into play when providing pediatric patient care: parents’ knowledge, cultural and religious practices, and the pediatric patient’s knowledge of their disease. Therefore, it is essential for nurses to follow the American Nurses Association (ANA) code of ethics to carry out nursing responsibilities in a manner consistent with quality in nursing care and the ethical obligations of the profession. In this paper I will discuss the ethical issues that deal with a fourteen year old boy with Cystic Fibrosis (C.F.). He has been faced with the proposition from his pulmonologist that he will not survive another acute respiratory distress attack and will have to intubated if his status deteriorated. However, he and his parents are not agreeing on whether or not he should be intubated if his status deteriorated with his next attack. This poses a huge ethical dilemma because as a nurse we are the patient’s advocate and need to do everything we can to make our patient comfortable as well as having the parents understand and accept the patient wants and desires.

The Introduction of The Children Act was the first time that a UK law had acknowledged that children had rights. It Places responsibility on home based child carers to help a child meet the following five priority outcomes:

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,

The second account of a changing stance toward children’s rights was evolution alongside women’s rights. Before this time, women and children were seen as unimportant under the law, whereas a father was given almost total control over all matters regarding his wife and children. If a father was violent or neglectful, society simply turned their shoulder to it. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, laws pertaining to the family system began to change. A new law recognized the equal rights of fathers and mothers with the mother’s rights reigning over the fathers in regards to the children. Also, the legal system began viewing children as important to the future of society, therefore “appropriate objects of the court’s

Nursing is an all encompassing profession in which practitioners are not only proficient in technical medical functionality, they also have the obligation to remain compassionate and respectful of patients and as such are expected to adhere to pre established codes of ethics. Of these ethics, autonomy is of extreme importance as it offers patients a sense of personal authority during a time where they may feel as if their lives, or at the very least their health, is no longer under their control. Autonomy in the context of nursing allocates the patient and often their family with the final word on the course of treatment. The concept of patient autonomy is a highly variable subject in all fields of health care. It is a universal concept that varies widely in its meaning and interpretation. Autonomy in its simplest form can be defined as a state of independence or self governing (Atkins, 2006). Patient autonomy can also be defined as the ability to make once own decisions, based on one’s sound judgment. It is defined by the American Nurses Association (ANA, 2011) as the "agreement to respect another 's right to self determine a course of action; support of independent decision making." This seemingly straight forward ethical concept is rife with difficulties when one considers potential disagreements that may arise even when informed consent is provided, particularly among children or vulnerable people. Relevant research and