The Necessity Of Medical Personnel

This author’s personal perceptions concerning patients facing a lingering terminal illness, have been shaped by over 20 years of critical care nursing experience. Facing death and illness on a daily basis requires self-examination and a high degree of comfort with one’s own mortality, limits and values. Constant exposure to the fragility of life forces respect for the whole person and the people who love them. A general approach to patients who are actively dying is to allow them to define what they want and need during this time. The nurse’s role

A huge effect of boarding patients/overcrowding emergency departments is ambulance diversion. It occurs when a hospital ED cannot accommodate any more emergency patients so

After working under these horrendous conditions, including lack of sleep, lack of electricity to keep the newest technology machines working, shut-down elevators and air conditioning, and an unsanitary working environment, the remaining staff members at Memorial did what they could. The reason and quantity of the medications that were found in patients’ bodies were unquestionably incorrect with the justification by Dr. Pou that she was simply trying to reduce their physical suffering and relieve their anxiety. In this case, Dr. Pou’s situation was considered malpractice, because people argued that there were other ways to help these patients. Rodney Scott, one of the last patients to leave the hospital stated, “How can you say euthanasia is better than evacuation?..If they had vital signs, then get ‘em out. Let God make that decision,” (Fink, 28). It is anticipated that nurses will experience challenging working conditions, including an environment of fear, and too much responsibilities or things to focus on. To prevent faster burnout and secondary trauma, nurses will need sufficient rest periods, emotional support especially from the hospital facilities and

The Superior Court of Los Angeles County became a pivotal case in a patient’s right to refuse treatment. In the initial case Ms. Bouvia and her legal team sought a court order to have the NGT removed and to stop all medical treatments she did not consent to. She argued that this treatment would not be a cure for her condition and would not improve her quality of life. The hospital staff argued the interest of the state prevailed over a patient’s right to refuse treatment. They noted that the state and healthcare teams viable interests include: “(1) preserving life, (2) preventing suicide, (3) protecting innocent third parties, and (4) maintaining the ethical standards of the medical profession, including supporting the right of physicians to effectively render necessary and appropriate medical services” (Liang & Lin, 2005). Additionally they sighted Ms. Bouvia’s failed previous attempt to “starve herself to death” in 1983 with the assistance of her medical team. The court denied her request citing these key interests and the fact that medical professionals felt that Ms. Bouvia could live 15-20 additional years with supplemental nutrition justified the state’s interest in preserving her life. The court also stated that any other decision would be condoning a medical team to aid and abet suicide.

As a result, physicians and nurses alike, may have failed to treat the whole person that was ill. They very likely only treated part of a disease or illness.

It is important to remember that care of the patient does not end when the patient dies. After the death there is still work to be done in the form of comforting the bereaved family members. It has been reported that some

The ethical principles for nurses to practice with beneficence and no maleficence. This legal battle between Terri Schiavo’s husband and her family was an ethical debate between continuing artificial life or remove her feeding tube by the request of her husband. Using the theories of utilitarianism and deontology can be applied or considered in making the most ethically correct resolution. The cases are very complex and raise many moral and ethical issues. The cases have brought awareness to society of “the importance of discussing end-of-life issues with family members and underscores how an advance directive, a living will and/or durable power of attorney for health care, are a healthcare proxy clarifies and provides evidence of the wishes of an individual regarding end-of-life decisions. Terri Schiavo should impress upon laypersons and professionals alike the uncertainty of the context in which issues of continuation and termination are argued ethically. Nobody knows what Mrs. Schiavo would have wanted. She left no advance directive and in its absence her husband says one thing and her parents

life-sustaining medical treatment." Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Summer 2000, p. 109. Academic OneFile, Accessed 12 Sept. 2017.

Bellevue hospital in new york city has spoke out about this increasing problem. In charge of intensive care at Bellevue is Dr. Ken Berger. Currently he is treating a 72 year old patient who has problems such as Hepatic Failure, Renal Failure, Cardiac Failure, He has no blood pressure and he is septic. This patient of his has shown no indication of getting better and seems to be increasingly getting worse. This man being treated has no chance of survival. Berger's patient is suffering and cannot function normally. In 1990 the supreme court passed a law aimed at stopping prolonging life treatments. However New york lawmakers Have twisted the decision to make it actually more difficult to stop prolonging life treatments. This law requires consent

The term medical necessity has been seldom defined and has commonly been misunderstood. Medical necessity “emerged during the development of private insurance in the 1940s, to ensure that hospitals and physicians were paid for the services they performed” (Bergthold, 1995). With that there have been multiple definitions of what medical necessity can mean. Cigna defines Medical Necessity in four ways: Medical Necessity for Physicians, Medical Necessity for other Health Care Providers, Health Care for seniors Definition of Medical Necessity for physicians and Health Care for Seniors Definition of Medical Necessity for other Health Care Providers (Medical Necessity Definitions, 2018). So, taking stance of the other Health Care Providers Cigna states that “Except where state law or regulation requires a different

The New York Times issued an article this week that introduces a group of doctors from Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland that are working to develop protocol for a tough, ethical dilemma. Dr. Lee Daugherty Biddison, a critical care physician at Johns Hopkins, faced severe rationing of medical resources while working abroad. While the problem was far from home, she quickly realized that in the wake of a catastrophe, Johns Hopkins too could briskly reach its capacity, as well as hospitals around the country (Fink). The ethical dispute then rises, when rationing of medical resources is necessary, how do you choose who gets the medical attention? While some members of the Maryland

Many nurses are regularly confronted with the hopelessness and exhaustion of patients and their families making it difficult for them to find balance between the preservation of life and the enablement of a dignified death. Nurses must acknowledge their own feelings of sorrow, fear, dismay and helplessness and recognize the impact of these emotions in clinical decision making. These distressing pressures may cause a nurse to contemplate intentionally assist in ending a patient's life as a humane and compassionate answer, however; the conventional goals and standards of the nursing profession mitigate against it.

With major advancement in medical treatments, it is now possible to keep a patient alive, which would not have been possible in former times. This has made end of life issue one of the most controversial issues in healthcare. Medical improvements have set the stage for ethical and legal controversies about not only the patient’s rights but also the family’s rights and the medical profession’s proper role. It is critical that any decision made in such situation is ethical and legal to preserve the rights of the patient and also protect the healthcare institution involved. It is very important when making decisions to discontinue treatments to make sure all other alternatives have been explored.

Hospice is a component of palliative care. A person does not necessarily have to be dying in order to see a palliative care specialist. This is where the service is often underutilized in the hospital. In the 18 months I have been a nurse, I have cared for many patients with chronic illnesses who have dealt with symptoms that have severely impacted their quality of life. Most of the time, it seems as though the patient’s care providers are interested in treating the patient’s acute problems. My experience has been that the symptoms are often overlooked or are being treated in a manner that is to the dissatisfaction and discomfort of the patient.

The coexistence of critical care medicine and palliative care in same era substantiates the fact that they represent a continuum of patient care in dreaded and life-threatening illness 2, Forgoing life support and providing end of life care to patient helps the patient and families accept that death is imminent and to allow natural death to occur. It also aims to relieve anxiety and avoid unnecessary economic burden.