Medical Ethics Essay

In 1990, the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF), a United States-based organization which represented over 90% of academic institutions with nurse practitioner (NP) education programs, released the first set of entry into practice core competencies (Duller, 2013, p .71). Nurse practitioner core competencies integrate and build upon existing Masters and DNP core competencies and are guidelines for educational programs preparing NPs to implement the full scope of practice

Over the past several decades, the principle of respect for patient autonomy has assumed a central place in health care. Indeed, respect for the self-determining decisions or interests of patients now is an underlying consideration for most professional codes of practice and also patient codes of rights (Cruess & Cruess, 2008; MacLeod, Wilson & Malpas, 2012). The dilemma now is that fear of losing autonomy or dignity during the dying process could lead some patients to request a hastened death

Ethics are a set of moral principles that serve as a guiding philosophy for behavior. Consequently it is not a surprise that ethical dilemmas occur daily in the health care setting. Any nurse who refuses to provide care for a patient faces an ethical dilemma (Kuhn, 2012, pp. 412-418). The reasons given for refusal range anywhere from a conflict of personal values to fear of personal risk of injury. Nurses do have the right, at times, to refuse patient care assignments. The decision to accept or reject

While Marcum’s philosophy focuses on medical research at the molecular, genetic, and tissue levels, Elisabeth Lloyd emphasizes the socioeconomic factors of health. She presents an empirical trend that permeates through a number of cross-national studies: the degree of income inequality in any given society is strongly correlated with the society’s level of morbidity and mortality. This means that if a society’s income gradient is steep (the poor are severely more poor than the rich), the worse off

(Pickert, "Assisted Suicide", 2009). Medical ethics and patient care go hand and hand. As health care providers, it is their duty to see that the patient 's needs are met. We are charged to insure comfort and proper recovery. The question here is whether there is a difference for patients who

information includes any information collected by the Department during the course of providing a health service to an individual; for example: name, address, date of birth, health and medical information2. The duty to maintain confidentiality means that a health professional is not allowed to disclose any medical information revealed by a patient or discovered by a health professional in connection with the treatment of a patient3. A disclosure of private information that the doctor has learned

means of lethal injection and it is completely controlled by the doctor. On the other hand, patients in assisted suicide have full control over the process that leads to their death. For this reason, procedures of these sorts must be eliminated as medical treatments and should not be authorized. Consequently, physician assisted suicide has been proven to lead to euthanasia in some cases. Assisted suicide should become illegal in all fifty states of the United States of America because it raises religious

Greek times and is highly controversial still to this day. Some even reference Hippocrates the father of Western medicine and his Hippocratic Oath as a means of being against legalizing euthanasia in every state. Euthanasia is a debate of morals, ethics and the value of human life. Those against euthanasia focus on the word killing, but it is the person doing it to themselves and not someone else especially someone out of vengeance or criminal act. For some it is even a religious stance and say

issues in the medical field. There are many questions that must be considered when euthanasia is involved. For example: Whose right is it anyway? Do physicians have the right to perform assisted suicide? Is it morally right? When is "competent" not competent enough? Euthanasia is preceded the decision that a terminally ill patient's life will come to an end before natural death. Euthanasia can also be defined as any killing carried out by medical means or by medical personnel; whether

‘slippery slope’ theory. If assisted suicide becomes legal in the UK, there is potential for groups of people to exploit the system altogether. As time progresses more people will become eligible, even branching out to those who do not have a serious medical condition , but desire assisted suicide due to their own personal problems. This brings about a moral issue, as it can open the floodgates to non-critical suicides and potentially involuntary euthanasia . Looking at the Netherlands, where euthanasia