Within this assignment, I will try to answer why the health care industry doesn’t have a set of clearly-stated legal and ethical guidelines, what the implications are for health care, and how this affects the idea that “each individual is responsible for his/her own actions.”.
When discussing the health care industry, one must keep in mind that there are a lot of shady areas regarding legal and ethical rules (Law and Ethics in Health Care, 2007). Medical providers give care to the individuals that need care, and each individual provider has his/her own thoughts about what is ethical or legal in regards to their individual practices. On the flip side, providers may only do what the patient requests them to do; this is based on the beliefs of the patient as to what is ethically sound and what is not. If medical providers are brought to a scenario where difficult choices have to be made, laws and guidelines have been set up to aide them in making the correct choices.
After that is said, this can have an effect on how a person in the medical field does his/her job. Looking from an ethical point of view, it is the medical professional’s responsibility to ask him/herself if their actions are legal, balanced, as well as what effect their actions will have emotionally on their patients (Fremgen, 2012). Health care professionals and patients may not always agree on what is the proper treatment due to the difference in values. When looking from a legal point of view, it is made clear that a medical professional cannot hurt or do harm to their patients; however, some painful procedures are needed to actually help the patient. Sometimes, when patients are stubborn, it can hinder their treatment because the medical professional cannot go against the wishes of the patient if the patient is of a sound state of mind (Fremgen, 2012).
We currently
