...Medical codes of ethics are very similar to one another no matter what field you are in. Take the code of conduct for nurse and the code for physical therapist assistants for example; they are two different professions that take almost the same route of creating a safe environment for patients. Let’s take a look at the code for respect in the APTA Guide’s Standard 1A it states, “Physical therapist assistants shall act in a respectful manner toward each person regardless of age, gender, race, nationality, etc.” The code simply says that you should treat patients how you would like to be treated if you were in their shoes. The ANA’s code for respect takes it one step further in Provision 1 by stating that nurses should “practice with compassion...
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...Number Glossary Of Terms 1 Introduction 2 Aspect Of Care 3 The DNACPR Policy 4 Ethics 7 Patients Consent 9 Withholding Information 14 Informed Choice 17 Forcing Information Upon Patients 20 The Nurses Role 22 Conclusion 25 References 26 Appendix 27 Glossary of terms CPR: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. DNACPR: Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. NMC: Nursing & Midwifery Council. GMC: General Medical Council. BMA: British Medical Association. GP: General Practitioner Introduction The Aim of this module is to encourage me to enhance my personal and professional skills, to increase the efficacy of patient care and interaction. Also to make me more aware of the legal, professional and ethical implications of practice. The module allowed me to further develop my knowledge of these topics: Ethics & Accountability, Legal Aspects of Practice, finally Accountability & Professional Practice. I was then asked to submit an essay of 4500 words based on the following: “Critically analyse an aspect of care from your practice setting that encompasses the ethical, professional & legal role of the nurse. Issues of accountability should be incorporated into this essay”. Aspect of care The aspect of care I have chosen to include in my essay is the “Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR)” Adult Policy 2010 (please see Appendix 1)...
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...Medical Ethics and Euthanasia In his essay “When Medicine Is Futile” Barron H. Lerner talks about how dying patients in America, in his opinion can not have a peaceful death. Important role in his writing represents his dad and his thinking. He has a big influence on Lerner`s opinion about the medicine in general. He argues that people die too many times connected to all kinds of machines and tubes that don`t really help them. Lerner describes some of the stories that his father kept in the journals. They have one common thing, and that is that event though the doctors knew the patients is going to die, his family was still hoping for a miracle and they did not want to accept that there is nothing that the doctors can do, to save the patient`s life. Reading and thinking about Lerner`s article lead me to ask myself; is it really true that there are no chances at all to save any patient? I think we should all still keep faith and stay optimistic that things will go better, no matter what situation we find ourselves in. In connection to that when we think about medicine, here comes the controversial problem about euthanasia. Should it be legalized and what are the pros and cons of it? Euthanasia is one of the most pressing issues of modern society. The development of medicine has put humanity against serious dilemma where the use of medical resources no longer offers the cure. As it is developing in many areas, there are still those areas where we ask ourselves; what to do...
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...March 16th, 2012 Persuasive Essay Euthanasia, Mercy Killing or Murder? Euthanasia and physician assisted suicide are the methods for helping patients to release their pain and suffering by using either medication or other comfortable methods. There are many arguments about these issues had been rising up from many different aspects, such as the actual definition of euthanasia and its practice; the physicians’ responsibilities and opinions; and ethics and religions stance of euthanasia. In my opinion, euthanasia and physician assisted suicide should be prohibited completely in all hospitals. Euthanasia is a physician purposely kills a patient by drugs with the approval from that person. Euthanasia can divide into two categories: passive and active euthanasia. Passive euthanasia is withdrawing any life-sustaining treatment (Palliate Medicine - 2011). In the other hand, active euthanasia is using drugs under administration of a physician. It can be voluntary, with the permission of the patients; involuntary, without a permission of a patient; and non-voluntary, with the permission of the second party due to the physical or mental condition of a patient (Health Policy – 2010). Involuntary is performing against the patient’s will, which is completely illegal. Active voluntary and non-voluntary are the main consideration of the society nowadays. One of the studies has shown the estimation of the percentage of deaths in the United Kingdom that involved euthanasia to be 0.16% (Palliative...
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...whether or not a person has a right to die. Does the government have the right to prolong your life by artificial means whether you desire it or not? With the passing of this law nationwide, you, as the voter will simply be saying, “It is YOUR choice” (Patashnik, 2004) The issue of “Having a Personal Right to Die,” has been long simmered beneath the surface in legal and political circles: under what circumstances do terminally injured and ill Americans have the right to choose to die? The Supreme Court made a definitive statement in the landmark 1990 case Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Dept. of Health that severely injured patients have a constitutional right to refuse medical treatment and die. But the court also ruled that states can require "clear and convincing" evidence of a patient's intent to forgo medical treatment, a rather high evidentiary standard to meet. History The actual word for “having a right to die” is Euthanasia. According to Dictionary.com, euthanasia is defined as the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering. The concept of Euthanasia goes as far back as 1870, when Samuel Williams, a schoolteacher, initiated the contemporary euthanasia debate through a speech given at the Birmingham Speculative Club, which was subsequently published in a one-off publication...
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...From time to time human beings experience health challenges, whether physical or mental. On its part, medical practice has made considerable progress towards combating or controlling many of these challenges. It is through research that the nature, symptoms and effects of ailments can be ascertained and remedies discovered. Medical researchers engage in both therapeutic and non-therapeutic research. Therapeutic research is that carried out with the purpose of treating disease. On the other hand, non-therapeutic research is aimed at 76 Adebayo A. Ogungbure furthering the frontiers of knowledge about human health. Furthermore, researchers and physicians often use human beings as objects of scientific investigation, raising certain ethical concerns, including the issue of informed consent and how consent is obtained, selection of participants in research, the welfare of human subjects involved in a research project, what the goals of research ought to be, and what ought to constitute proper procedure for an ethical research. These issues are central to an aspect of applied ethics which is now commonly referred to as research ethics. The aim of research ethics is to ensure that research projects involving human subjects are carried out without causing harm to the subjects involved. In addition, it provides a sort of regulatory framework which ensures that human participants in research are not exploited either physically or psychologically. The need for ethical guidelines...
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...principles to protect human participants in biomedical research from undue exploitation by researchers. However, in the “Tuskegee Study” in the US, these principles were grossly violated. The task of this paper is to critically examine the ethical implications of that study on future practices in biomedical research, and to suggest ways of ensuring that such practices comply with appropriate ethical values. Key Words Bioethics, Biomedical research, clinical research, Tuskegee Study, paternalism, morality Introduction From time to time human beings experience health challenges, whether physical or mental. On its part, medical practice has made considerable progress towards combating or controlling many of these challenges. It is through research that the nature, symptoms and effects of ailments can be ascertained and remedies discovered. Medical researchers engage in both therapeutic and non-therapeutic research. Therapeutic research is that carried out with the purpose of treating disease. On the other hand, non-therapeutic research is aimed at 76 Adebayo A. Ogungbure furthering the frontiers of knowledge about human health. Furthermore, researchers and physicians often use human beings as objects of scientific investigation, raising certain ethical concerns, including the issue of informed consent and how consent is obtained, selection of participants in research, the welfare of human...
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...ethical principles to protect human participants in biomedical research from undue exploitation by researchers. However, in the “Tuskegee Study” in the US, these principles were grossly violated. The task of this paper is to critically examine the ethical implications of that study on future practices in biomedical research, and to suggest ways of ensuring that such practices comply with appropriate ethical values. Key Words Bioethics, Biomedical research, clinical research, Tuskegee Study, paternalism, morality Introduction From time to time human beings experience health challenges, whether physical or mental. On its part, medical practice has made considerable progress towards combating or controlling many of these challenges. It is through research that the nature, symptoms and effects of ailments can be ascertained and remedies discovered. Medical researchers engage in both therapeutic and non-therapeutic research. Therapeutic research is that carried out with the purpose of treating disease. On the other hand, non-therapeutic research is aimed at 76 Adebayo A. Ogungbure furthering the frontiers of knowledge about human health. Furthermore, researchers and physicians often use human beings as objects of scientific investigation, raising certain ethical concerns, including the issue of informed consent and how consent is obtained, selection of participants in research, the welfare of human subjects involved in...
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...“It is a mistake to reject religious principles in favour of secular/ethical principles for guidance in medical ethics” A religion such as Christianity has rules and guidelines that are made by the Church using teachings and bible scriptures so that Christians can live a moral life to achieve an afterlife. An example of this is the Ten Commandments that was given to Moses which contain laws such as ‘thy shall not steal’ and ‘thy shall not kill’. These laws were giving to Moses so that people would do the right and good things. Secular principles such as Utilitarianism and laws made by the government for non-religious people to use as guidance to outline the right and wrong. Within this essay, I will examine how religion is a part of the rationing and prioritising sector when it comes to healthcare resources as well as the advantages and disadvantages when using non-secular principles when distributing resources. Beauchamp and Childress’ Four Principles of Biomedical Ethics are respect for autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice. This is one of the ethical principles that are being used by the NHS. The four principles are there to be used equally and fair when choosing the best decision for a situation of medical treatment. Autonomy means that you should respect a patient’s decision by giving them all the information they need to make their financial decision. Autonomy suggests that patients should be the ones to make their decisions and not healthcare professionals...
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...This essay will demonstrate that it is not “always morally worse to kill than it is to let die”. It will be argued that passive euthanasia (i.e. letting someone die) is not morally wrong and that active euthanasia (i.e. accelerating their death) is no less moral. However, the many complications associated with the legalisation of active euthanasia (and euthanasia in general) must be identified and addressed. These identified complications may be eliminated with an appropriate regulatory regime. Assuming that identified complications can be overcome, and having established that it is not always morally worse to kill than to let die, it will be demonstrated that active euthanasia should not be banned. Morality, as defined by the Oxford Dictionary, is “principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behaviour”1. Hinde states that the principles are influenced and changed by one’s society and culture but also “based in human nature”2. As morality is influenced by society, public opinion is important when it comes to controversial issues. Morality differs from place to place and evolves over time. To compound this diversity, changes in medical treatment, and discoveries which enhance medical knowledge evolves rapidly and what was not even conceivable in some cultures or at certain points in history are now commonly accepted. Developments in end of life care fall within this category. With our increased ability to prolong life, arguments can now be made...
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...INTRODUCTION Euthanasia is defined as the intentional killing, by act or omission, of a human being for his or her purported benefit. This definition is quite wide-ranging and a number of types of euthanasia and related activities have been defined. These include physician-assisted suicide and involuntary/non-voluntary euthanasia. While participation in the death of another—desired or otherwise—is usually defined in terms of a criminal act, a number of jurisdictions have established lawful protocols permitting such outcomes. By the same token, other jurisdictions, the Netherlands, have adopted what amount to non-punitive protocols in the face of existing legislation to the contrary when certain medical procedures are undertaken by licensed physicians. All of these acts have created considerable debate, extending to such issues as physician responsibility, duty of care, extent of individual responsibility, and personal integrity, to name just a few. This paper considers aspects of euthanasia and the moral factors that pertain. At the conclusion, this paper will recommend that certain types of euthanasia be permitted under the general supervision of a trained physician. EUTHANASIA AND PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE Physician-assisted suicide (PAS), like euthanasia, has been forbidden since the creation of the Hippocratic Oath. However, as a practical matter, physicians have had a measure of latitude in the specific application. For example, a fatal dose of an opium...
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...is for the five percent of patients who are in their final year of life, and most of that money goes for care in their last couple of months, which is of little apparent benefit (p. 3). Even more concerning is the suffering that many patients are forced to endure due to the lack of other options. Patients must have the right to make autonomous decisions regarding the end of their lives. They need to be confident that those decisions will be upheld, even if they conflict with the wishes of their families or physicians. However, patient confidence in knowing that their final wishes will be met is complicated by a lack of education and empowerment for those who face these difficult decisions (Frank & Anselmi, 2011). The purpose of this essay is to discuss the benefits to patient autonomy and the Medicare budget, by the legalization of physician-assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia. Legalizing Euthanasia: A Practical Approach Imagine that your beloved pet suffered a stroke and could no longer eat, drink, walk, or care for itself the way it had been able to do previously. Would you have a feeding tube inserted into him and care for his every personal need? The answer to this question may seem obvious when discussing a pet, but what...
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...JUSTICE AND DIVERSITY WORD COUNT 3846 Introduction The aim of this assignment is to consider whether mental health patients have autonomy or do staff and the healthcare environment merely allow them a measurable quantity of autonomy based on legal, ethical and moral restrictions, if this is the case, is this autonomy at all? Placement experiences will be given in relation to patient autonomy and related ethical, legal and professional issues will be supported and/ or contrasted by relevant literature. Patient autonomy and capacity, consent, compliance, coercion and paternalism with be considered. In an attempt to show a deeper understanding and ability to apply theory to practice, the moral theories of liberal individualism, utilitarianism, Kantianism and communitarianism will be discussed in relation to patient autonomy. Attitudes, values, assumptions related to patient autonomy, implications for practice and care provision will also be reviewed. This topic has been chosen, due to personal interest following practice experiences on an adult acute mental health unit. All identifying factors relating to the patients have been changed to maintain client confidentiality (Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC) Code of Professional Conduct 2002). A conclusion will be offered to evaluate findings, finalising with a reflective summary focusing on the process of enquiry. Autonomy Autonomy means self rule (Dworkin 1988). It as the ability to think, choose and act freely and...
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...Her husband and children cannot come to an agreement on whether life support should end or if all resuscitative measures should be attempted. The following paper will discuss how the American Nurse’s Association Code of Nursing Ethics would influence a final decision, how personal and societal values can influence ethical decision making, the fundamental legal aspects of each case study, and the legal responsibilities of nurses in the work setting. Regardless of any situation that may arise, every nurse has a set standard in place that must be followed. These are nonnegotiable, ethical standards, obligations and duties that every individual swears to when entering the nursing profession. These standards are all found within the American Nurses Association’s code of Nursing Ethics and Conduct. Whether dealing with patients and families during end of life decision making or dealing with nursing negligence within the court of law, the first provision in the code of ethics is the most imperative to remember. Nurses are always obligated to their patient’s best interest, therefore making them an unrelenting patient advocate. Many provisions are pointed out within the Nursing Code of Ethics. In the situation of dealing with Marianne’s family and medical treatments, there are many important things to consider. “The nurse respects the worth, dignity, and rights of all human beings irrespective of the nature of the health problem. The worth of the person is not affected by disease...
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...honest communication, respect for personal and professional values, and sensitivity to differences are integral to optimal patient care. As the setting for the provision of health services, hospitals must provide a foundation for understanding and respecting the rights and responsibilities of patients, their families, physicians, and other caregivers. Hospitals must ensure a health care ethic that respects the role of patients in decision making about treatment choices and other aspects of their care. Hospitals must be sensitive to cultural, racial, linguistic, religious, age, gender, and other differences as well as the needs of persons with disabilities (A patient’s bill of rights, 1992). To participate effectively in decision making, patients must be encouraged to take responsibility for requesting additional information or clarification about their health status or treatment when they do not fully understand information and instructions (A patient’s bill of rights, 1992). Three ethical considerations are autonomy, duty of care and risk-benefit. Ethical questions surround the concept of medical...
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