...Running head: PATIENT’S RIGHT A Patient's Right to Choose Abstract The U. S. Food and Drug Administration must expand access to experimental, unapproved drugs to include terminally-ill patients who have exhausted all conventional treatment methods and choose to accept the risks. Terminally-ill patients deserve the right to choose and have access to potentially life-saving drugs as the potential benefit of life justifies the potential risks when imminent death is their only alternative. After extensive testing many of these drugs go on to be approved, but this process can take years and often terminally-ill patients die long before FDA approval. By allowing dying patients the choice of participation in clinical trials, not only could life be spared, but the possible proven efficacy of these drugs could be of benefit to all humanity. A Patient's Right to Choose It is the constitutional right of the citizens of the United States of America to make an informed decision as to whether or not to use potentially life-saving drugs to prolong life when terminally ill. Federal regulations and restrictions must be lifted to accommodate access to this fundamental right. When faced with a terminal illness and all conventional treatment methods have failed, it should be the patient's choice as to whether or not unapproved, experimental drugs are used, as the potential benefit of life justifies the potential risks when imminent death is the alternative with no other options. Drug...
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...for Disease Control and Prevention, last year it was recorded that approximately one million people were currently living with Human immunodeficiency virus, or better known as HIV. This fast growing epidemic infects another unknowing person every nine minutes. With so many people being infected with HIV something must be done. However, what public knowledge can be used to spread information about this disease? Also, what rights are there for people currently living with this disease? The Office of Civil Rights is an agency that focuses on protecting the civil rights of Americans. This organization helps protect against discrimination in areas such as treatment centers, government-ran agencies, and day care centers. “OCR’s enforcement efforts protect the civil rights and health information privacy rights of people living with HIV, resulting in increased access to quality health care and reduced HIV-related discrimination, stigma and disparities” (HHS, 2011). People living with HIV have the same rights to privacy as any other patient. They also have the right to expect that all records and communications are kept confidential. These individuals can be protected because by law professionals must keep their information and treatment private. In order to protect the community from HIV, spreading knowledge and awareness is important. Free or low-cost testing should be provided for all in order to gain awareness of infection. People that do not have HIV need to understand how to...
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...professional dilemma regarding the patient’s rights. The nurse’s role in this case study is to, work according to the Maryland state regulations and nursing standards; But as per Maryland nursing standards, she is not working as an advocate for her patient, Mr. E at this situation (Code of Ethics - the Division of State Documents, 10.27.19.02). The patient already signed advanced directive against life saving measures almost seven years ago, at the time of admission to a nursing home, with the help of patient advocate; but Dr G. is planning patient care in opposition to Mr.E’s active advance directive and his expressed objections to the medical care. There are numerous issues to consider in this case study. The nurse has to review her professional role according to code of ethics and nursing standards in relation to advance directives and medical power of attorney. The nurse also has to consider the patient’s right to privacy and confidentiality according to HIPPA Policy. The issues in contemporary healthcare facilities are sometimes the statues can be vague, and issues can be in conflict with own personal beliefs in most areas. A) State Regulations and Nursing Standards of practice There are specific Maryland state regulations and nursing standards regarding patient rights in this case study. However, the most relevant regulation is that, the nurse promotes, advocates for, and strives to protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient (Nursing code...
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...The Right to Death: Advocating for the Patient’s Right Kristine Bisceglia N176 Saddleback College The Right to Death: Advocating for the Patient’s Right As new graduate nurses we are going to be presented with many new challenges while working in the hospital and as we transition into this role of “nurse” instead of “student nurse”, we will be actively learning how to manage our time, our patient load and what it truly means to be an advocate for our patient’s rights. One challenge that we all are going to face for the first time is learning how to accommodate a dying patient and their wishes. The challenge isn’t just about providing care but also how to handle the patient’s family and even our own possible opposing beliefs. First, we are going to have to understand difference and what our ethical obligations are when we are faced with questions and situations pertaining to end of life decisions. An advance directive allows a competent adult to make the decision about their end of life care and this is acknowledged in a formal document known as a living will. The document will include; an individual the patient has chosen to make decisions for them if they become incompetent or incapacitated to make decisions on their own, stipulations on what is acceptable care and treatments and procedures that are not to be implemented as well as authorization for the patient’s physician to withhold or discontinue certain life-sustaining procedures under specific conditions (Cherry...
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...Directives An 89 year old patient came to the emergency room from a nursing home. Per the nursing home staff, the patient had a “floppy leg” and grimaced when that leg was moved. The patient’s advance directive paperwork was provided. The patient is non-verbal. An advance directive is a document composed by competent patient’s that ensure the right of self-determination: the right of every person to make their own decisions about their medical treatment, including the right to refuse treatment (Martin, 2013). As the primary nurse for the patient, I felt it was my responsibility to inform all the medical staff that was involved in her care of the presence of the advance directives. The doctor was the first to be informed. The advance directive is a written instruction recognized under state law relating to provision of such care when the patient is incapacitated (Martin, 2013). The paperwork that was provided was a DNR status, and also a Durable Power of Attorney, naming her husband. A Durable Power of Attorney is a document that allows a patient to designate a person to make decisions about their health care in a case where they are not able to make decisions themselves. It gives some direction about the kinds of medical treatment they want ("Understanding," n.d.). When my patient’s husband arrived to the emergency department, he agreed that he is the Durable Power of Attorney, and requested that no surgeries, or diagnostic testing be done. The doctor explained to...
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...Assisted Suicide Yusuf J. Shalah HSA 515 Dr. James Coon 1. Explain how the Patient Bill of Rights applies to the situation. With regards to this situation, the Patient’s Bill of Rights was established to contribute to more effective patient care, and to ensure that care is considerate and respectful, and more importantly, to ensure a health care ethic that extends that respect to a patient’s role in decision-making about treatment choices and other aspects of their care. “These rights can be exercised on the patient’s behalf by a designated surrogate or proxy decision maker if the patient if the patient lacks decision making capacity, is legally incompetent or is a minor.”(Aha, 1993) Mrs. Jones, in our scenario, is a patient evidently suffering from a terminal illness possibly in its latter stages, or possibly a fresh diagnosis. In either situation, from the information provided Mrs. Jones has made no declaration, or request, agreement to receiving an extra dose of a narcotic which could potentially end her life. Thus, Nancy nurses’ decision to administer this extra dose is not only capable of killing her, but is also premeditated. There is no consideration to her wishes, those of her family, and a blatant disregard of any other health professionals involved. If you are to be justified in helping someone to die (assisted suicide), the person you are going to ‘help’ must have made it clear that they want to be killed. “A unilateral decision that is...
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...Physician assisted suicide has been a controversial topic in this country for many years. Some believe that people who are sick and dying should have the legal right to end their life with the help of a physician. There are many terminal cancer patients who are so sick they will not have a chance to live the rest of their life so they choose the route of physician assisted suicide. They choose it because it is an easy pain free way to end their life. Although people may say physician assisted suicide is unethical, physician assisted suicide is ethical because it is a person's individual choice whether they want to live or die and it reduces suffering. There have been many cases and statewide issues that have dealt with physician assisted suicide. The state of California and Washington denied the idea of physician assisted suicide. In the early 1990’s California and Washington rejected the votes that would have allowed Physician assisted suicide to be legal. Physician assisted suicide is a state issue. Physician assisted suicide was a problem in states...
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...The patient’s head was normal in size and shape with all normal features present. The hair on the patient’s head and face was evenly distributed, with no lesions, infestations or dandruff. The hair on the back of the head was discolored from the iodine used during surgery to clean the patient’s neck. The patient’s hair was soft, short and silver in color. The eyes, nose, mouth and ears of the patient were symmetrical and at even levels bilaterally. The skin of the patient’s face was soft, non-tender, warm to the touch, dry, and free from lesions. No abnormal findings were found when palpating the patient’s skull. Since the patient was sedated and intubated, cranial nerve five could not be tested. The eyebrow hair and eyelashes on the patient...
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...Introduction Ethical decision-making is a process where one decides on a course of action based on ethical and professional principles. The ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, justice and nonmaleficence are often brought into consideration in ethical dilemmas. Healthcare professionals often use these ethical principles as a premise to make morally sound judgements on care provision. Ethical dilemmas surface when these principles conflict with one another. The correct course of action is not clearly defined and the decisions made may be challenged. Decisions made on moral grounds are often intrinsically complex and intricate. This essay will cover the principles of distributive justice, autonomy, and beneficence. Drawing from personal experience, three individual case pertaining to each principle are provided to illustrate how each principle is either observed or breached. A conclusion is presented at the end of each case study to summarize the ethical reasoning and concepts discussed. A final conclusion will also be presented at the end of the essay to provide closure to the discussion. Distributive Justice Case Study: Dr Adams is a physician working in an acute medical ward. During his shift, he reviewed two critically ill patients. Patient A was an 80-year old lady with thrombocytopenia secondary to lymphoma with a low haemoglobin level. She had been receiving palliative care prior to admission. Patient B was a 50-year old man with an actively bleeding...
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...MODULE 2 Standards of Care | Met | Unmet | Example | Recommendation | 1. Patients have access to the health care organizations’ services based on their identified health care needs and the organizations’ mission and resources. | * | | Patients are being cared of according to their complaint: * The patient is complaining of flank pain, the health care provider in the institution performs assessment and laboratory examinations. | | 2. The patient has a process for admitting patients to the organization. | * | | The institution has the TRIAGE system. * The institution utilizes this system in determining priorities and intervening to needs. | | 3. Patients with emergency or immediate needs are given priority for assessment and treatment. | * | | | | 4. At admission, the health care organization provides the following information to patients’ and appropriate family member and decision makers; information on the proposed care, the expected results of the care, and any expected cost to the patient for the care. | * | | Consent for admission is being explained to and signed by the significant other and the patient. | | 5. The organization seeks to reduce physical, language, cultural and other barriers to access and delivery of service. | * | | * As much as possible, patients having different dialect are being entertained by using the same dialect. * During blood transfusion, patients’ cultures are being respected after...
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...care providers face ethical dilemma on a daily basis. The ethical dilemma presented in this paper is whether to respect a patient’s autonomy not to receive blood and blood products due to her religious belief and compromise standard of care. In the article, An Ethical Dilemma Involving a Dying Patient, the writer addresses ethical issues related to a 20 years old female who is 32 weeks pregnant, involved in an accident and sustained a life threatening injury which required an emergency blood transfusion and surgery in order to save her life and that of her unborn child. Due to her religious faith as a Jehovah witness she and her husband reject blood products and blood transfusion as option. The ethical dilemma “A conflict can be experienced when there is evidence to indicate that a certain acts is morally right and evidence to indicate that the act is morally wrong, but no evidence is conclusive” (Burkhardt, 2008, p. 118.). The ethical dilemma faced by the health care providers in this case is the patient’s decision to refuse blood transfusion in other to stay true to her religious belief, the end result of her decision was death, if she had hearken to the medical plan of care and received blood transfusion, she would have lived but be faced with the guilt of betraying her religious faith. The main ethical dilemma was that by honoring the patient’s autonomy and religious belief, the health care provider was faced with compromising their moral duty / standard of care. ...
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...health nurse finding out her sister’s boyfriend is HIV positive is a difficult one. There are many moral, legal, and ethical implications in a situation like this. While it is easy to want to jump to one decision concerning this issue, there are many things to consider before making a decision. Patient’s Rights First and foremost, the patient’s rights and privacy needs to be the first thing reviewed. HIV/AIDS status is considered “superconfidential” in a patient’s medical record, and any unjust disclosure can lead to very severe consequences. Under Florida’s Omnibus AIDS Act, releasing HIV status without the patient’s consent or knowledge is a first degree misdemeanor and can result in disciplinary action from the providers licensing board (Hartog, 2009, p. 38). Before deciding to do anything, review the patients’ rights and the nursing code of ethics. Many ethical terms come into play here. Autonomy ensures that the patient is allowed to make their own decision about their health care. There are some specific legal implications regarding an HIV diagnosis, but that will be discussed later. Under the nurse’s code of ethics, nurses need to respect a patient’s autonomy and right to choose their care (“Ethics”). Reviewing the Diagnosis The first action to be taken would be to schedule an appointment with the boyfriend and inform him of his HIV status, if that has not already been done. Florida specifically offers various types of counseling to newly diagnosed HIV patient...
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...0 3 0 Electronic Health Records in the Physician Office CHAPTER OUTLINE Patient Flow in the Physician Practice Step 1. Pre-Visit: Appointment Scheduling and Information Collection Step 2. Patient Check-in and Payment Collection Step 3. Rooming and Measuring Vital Signs Patient Examination and Documentation Step 4. Patient Checkout Step 5. Post-Visit: Coding and Billing Post-Visit: Reviewing Test Results Coding and Reimbursement in Electronic Health Records Computer-Assisted Coding Clinical Tools in the Electronic Health Record Decision-Support Tools Tracking and Monitoring Patient Care Screening for Illness or Disease Identifying at-Risk Patients Managing Patients with Chronic Diseases Improving the Quality and Safety of Patient Care with Evidence-Based Guidelines E-Prescribing and Electronic Health Records Keeping Current with Electronic Drug Databases Increasing Prescription Safety Saving Time and Money LEARNING OUTCOMES After completing this chapter, you will be able to define key terms and: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. List the five steps of the office visit workflow in a physician office. Discuss the advantages of pre-visit scheduling and information collection for patients and office staff. Describe the process of electronic check-in. Explain how electronic health records make documenting patient exams more efficient. Explain what occurs during patient checkout. Explain what two events take place during the post-visit step of the visit workflow. Describe the advantages of computer-assisted...
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...0 3 0 Electronic Health Records in the Physician Office CHAPTER OUTLINE Patient Flow in the Physician Practice Step 1. Pre-Visit: Appointment Scheduling and Information Collection Step 2. Patient Check-in and Payment Collection Step 3. Rooming and Measuring Vital Signs Patient Examination and Documentation Step 4. Patient Checkout Step 5. Post-Visit: Coding and Billing Post-Visit: Reviewing Test Results Coding and Reimbursement in Electronic Health Records Computer-Assisted Coding Clinical Tools in the Electronic Health Record Decision-Support Tools Tracking and Monitoring Patient Care Screening for Illness or Disease Identifying at-Risk Patients Managing Patients with Chronic Diseases Improving the Quality and Safety of Patient Care with Evidence-Based Guidelines E-Prescribing and Electronic Health Records Keeping Current with Electronic Drug Databases Increasing Prescription Safety Saving Time and Money LEARNING OUTCOMES After completing this chapter, you will be able to define key terms and: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. List the five steps of the office visit workflow in a physician office. Discuss the advantages of pre-visit scheduling and information collection for patients and office staff. Describe the process of electronic check-in. Explain how electronic health records make documenting patient exams more efficient. Explain what occurs during patient checkout. Explain what two events take place during the post-visit step of the...
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...city-states. Autonomy is the right to determine one’s own actions, behaviors and it is a position of freedom but not all freedom is autonomy. For example, it’s easier for the self-employed to accomplish the need for autonomy than for other workers. In health care, the right of patients to make decisions about their medical care without their health care provider trying to affect the decision. Patient autonomy will allow for health care providers to inform or educate the patient but does not allow the health care provider to make decision for the patients. Autonomy is important for medical ethics because every patient or human being of sound mind has a right to determine what should be done with his own body whether refuse or accept the procedure that doctors offer to patients. Informed consent is the process by which the health care provider tells or discloses appropriate information to a patient so that the patient can make a choice to accept or refuse the treatment. The goal or the purpose of having informed consent is to prove that the patient have been fully informed of available treatment options and their risks and benefits. Informed consent relates to the principle of respect autonomy because the health care provider must take his or her time to explain every single detail of the procedure to the patient before operating on the patient. A health care provider must answer all the questions given by the patient and respect their views, decisions and rights so long as their thoughts...
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