Why Are Impaired Physicians Such Important?

They serve as pillars of wisdom and guidance while exhibiting communication adroitness with care teams and patients to engineer top-notch medical care. To maintain high standards, effective medical professionals are constantly taking in new information through continuing education, placing providers at the pinnacle of knowledge. Moreover, physicians require affective aptitude as they must convey empathy during patient interactions. All these attributes draw me to seek the personal challenge and resulting responsibilities that are demanded. I desire to become an important contribution to society in a field I am passionate

Every one of us has relied on a medical professional at least a few times in our lives. When we get seriously ill, or suffer a serious injury, we put our health in the hands of doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, fully expecting to be treated with a certain degree of professionalism and safety. Unfortunately, sometimes the expected care is not given, or not given to the extent which the ailment requires. In these situations, we can feel blindsided, confused, even taken advantage of.

In the story of “Old Doc Rivers,” readers learn Doctor Rivers, an alcoholic who is surprisingly able to do his job in impeccable fashion. Physicians require a tremendous amount of coordination and attention, thus seeing a physician that is consistently intoxicated is concerning. Like Morphine, Dr. Rivers appears to use the alcohol as a coping mechanism, thus generally improving his work. Physicians are not exempt from suffering from illness and addictions. Dr. Rivers, “always had a jug of it behind his desk,” an indication of his embrace of addiction. Though dangerous, Dr. Rivers generally does a satisfactory job, leaving his patients with no reason to complain about his addiction. Do physicians that suffer from deadly addictions have to be barred from practicing? Dr. Rivers brings this debate to light. Physicians should be able to practice as long as they are not harming their patients. Though physicians do have a high responsibility in their career, they cannot be treated as outcasts for dealing with problems other people face on a regular basis. Physicians deal with human problems and patients must be aware of that. The social pressures put on Dr. Rivers to address his addiction ultimately led to his decline as a physician. He was a mediocre physician while sober, but a great physician while under the influence of his alcohol or dope. As Dr. Rivers comes to terms with his addiction, he starts messing up more, indicative of the mental battles some physicians face. He epitomized the saying, “doctors make the worst patients,” creating a dangerous situation for himself as he began to decline further into his addiction

Some of the current changes that can be seen in regards to prescription privileges include changes in the ways that physicians and mental health professionals are able to prescribe medications to their patients. According to Brenda Smith of the APA (2012), currently patients receive their medications for psychological conditions by a physician usually without having been evaluated by a mental health practitioner according to the CDC. The trend includes individuals to visit their general health practitioners in order to receive psychotropic medications such as antidepressants and anxiolytics. The problem with individuals receiving these medications from other sources include: deterrence

University Hospital is a well known hospital with a level 1 trauma treatment center for the tri-county area of a northwestern state, the hospital enjoys the fact they are known for their promising reputation among healthcare professionals and the public they serve. Jan Adams is an OR supervisor that has been working there for ten years, as a professional she makes surgeons follow protocol as required and enjoys working with trauma patients. One Friday night, which is the busiest day of the week for the trauma department; the unit was notified that a helicopter was on its way with a 42 year old man who had been in a car accident. Shortly after the patient arrived to the trauma center, the resident and other medical staff noted that he was in very bad physical conditions, needed immediate surgery or otherwise he was going to die. The issue was that the on call surgeon had to be present during the surgery and had not yet arrived, but regardless of the matter and protocol they proceeded with medically treating the patient immediately. The concern is that in doing so they violated medical procedures and put the patients safety at risk, this lead to a long list of ethical issues for example, patient well-being, impaired healthcare professional, adherence to professional codes of ethical conduct, adherence to the organization’s mission statement, ethical standards, and values statements, management’s role and responsibility, failure

As an adolescent, my enthusiasm for biology, knowledge, and assisting others attracted me to the medical field. The salary or glory does not appeal to me, since physicians must also commit to a grueling education, long work hours, and tremendous responsibilities. However, they bring optimism and joy to despairing patients. Doctors encounter mental challenges while diagnosing a patient, and immense satisfaction devising a solution. I intend to become a clinical geneticist, as I am inquisitive about genetics, particularly genetically inherited diseases. A

If I was a new administrator at Jamestown Medical Center and I received a phone call from the nurse manager stating that she suspects Dr. Smith being intoxicated, the first thing I would do is ask the nurse to elaborate for me on what she saw. After speaking with the nurse, I will then go to the emergency room department and make my own observations. If I notice any changes in Smith’s speech, behavior, appearance or even smell alcohol, I would quickly pull the physician outside in a private location to address the situation. After speaking with the physician, I would then send him home and see which physician is on-call to take over his shift. At the moment I will document what had occurred and put it aside until his next shift. Once the doctor

In a lot of cases conditions imposed include refraining from the excessive use of alcohol, or use of any narcotic drug or other controlled substance without a prescription from a licensed

Backing all great physicians are a group of highly trained and dedicated individuals ranging from scribes to nurses. A student doctor must understand that working in groups is not just a skill needed to succeed in undergraduate school, but it is also a skill that is critical to becoming a good physician. During my times as a medical scribe in the ER, I have been present during several codes and I have witnessed the importance of group work firsthand. On several occasions, in fact, I have found myself as an important member of a patient’s care team. As a VCOM student doctor, I will continue to keep the critical principle in mind. Whether it is something as simple as studying for an exam or something as important as saving a coding patient, I will always make sure to work well with others and play my part as best as I

According to the American College of Healthcare Administrators Code of Ethics and the AMA, “Physicians have an ethical obligation to report impaired, incompetent, and/or unethical colleagues in accordance with the legal requirements in each state” (American Medical Association, n.d.). In this case, the Chief of the department believes physicians should look out for one another; especially since Dr. Delmonico was well-respected 45 year tenured physician and brings much needed revenue to the facility. However, Dr. Sears has the ethical duty to confidentially and objectively evaluate the reported accusation to assure remedies or to further report to a higher authority (AMA). Administrators and physicians have a common charge to protect patients from disruptive behaviors.

One of the first lines of defense in helping the elderly who are struggling with substance abuse is assisting them in recognizing there is a problem and correctly screening for substance abuse (Han et al., 2009). This primary role of the physician is essential to the treatment of the older patient’s medical needs. The medical community plays an important role in the lives of older people. Physicians prescribe the medications which a person might possibly abuse. It is the responsibility of the physician to identify and address a patient’s possible problems with substance abuse.

Ingelfinger describes medicine as an art, it is the ability of a physician to show their patients compassion and understanding and be able to explain situations that allow the patients to understand. On the other hand, Physician that lack the art of medicine may be well informed, passed exams to practice medicine or even a certified specialist but their effectiveness will be severely limited, Ingelfinger believes people who lack human relations should not be physicians despite their intelligence. He also discusses medical art disappearing due to technological advancements, political issues, and government regulation. Although there are many definitions of medical art it can be assumed physicians who are motivated, observant, able to understand

Many in the healthcare profession today are challenged with different ethical values; when it comes to healthcare provider and patient relationship. One of those ethical values is when to show mercy and no harm to those left in a health provider care. Most healthcare givers would, but what about those who are providing care in a government interrogation area? In this summarization; two valuable principles, beneficence and nonmaleficence will be discussed. Also, an in-depth analyzation of a case study of a military doctor whose ethics will may be tested.

Many physicians possess a strong drive for achievement, exceptional conscientiousness and an ability to deny personal problems. These attributes are advantages for success in medicine, while providing predisposition to impairment (Boisaubin). Physicians can be impaired by age, physical or mental disease, declining cognitive ability, personal trauma, disruptive behavior, alcohol abuse, abuse of addictive drugs, behavior instability and depression. Personal and

A client admits to alcohol dependency on a consistant and regular basis because the loss of job. The client exhibits hopelessness and depression. The client has explained they experiencing insomnia, and decreased energy to do anything. This explains their poor personal hygiene. As the clinician the safety of the client is of the utmost importance.