...a physician to provide death to a patient. Many people argue that the decision to kill oneself is a private choice which society has no right to be concerned about. This position assumes that suicide results from competent people making autonomous, rational decision to die, and then claims that society has no business "interfering" with a freely chosen life or death decision that harms no one other the suicidal individual. However, according to experts, who have studied several cases on suicide, the basic assumption is wrong. It is very unlikely that someone with serious disability commits suicide. Rather, as society view seriously disabled and terminally ill individuals as burdens with unacceptable quality of life, these persons may feel an obligation to commit suicide. A careful 1974 British study, which involved extensive interviews and examination of medical records, found that 93% of those studied who committed suicide were mentally ill at the time. A similar St. Louis study, published in 1984, found a mental disorder in 94% of those who committed suicide. There is a great body of psychological evidence that those who attempt suicide are normally having conflict feelings and that they are most of time the victims of mental disorder. Almost all of those who attempt suicide do so as a subconscious cry...
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...that they can not take it anymore? Will physician assisted suicide be viewed as something positive rather than a deadly sin? The procedure taken with physician assisted suicide has become one of the most debatable topics since the unjust acts done by Dr. Kevorkian. Dr. Kevorkian was a doctor in medicine who would grant anyone death that seeks it. This story has traveled around the world and time to where it affects the decision of assisted suicide being legal. No one wants to see a slippery slope occur to where it is just another category for murder. In the United States, physician assisted suicide has become legal in five states: Oregon, California, Vermont, Washington and Montana. This is where licensed doctors perform a procedure in assisting a patient with suicide. Within those states, this is only an option not a misfortune. However, society has viewed this topic to be either unethical and morally wrong or something that can help with the terminally ill patients suffering in a hospital. For a doctor to assist the terminally ill in death, it can not be something to be frowned upon. Physician...
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...Ethics Case Study Heather Holcomb University of Phoenix Ethics: Health Care and Social Responsibility HCS 335 Deborah Laughon RN BSN MS DBA January 23, 2012 Ethics Case Study Case Study Jerry McCall is Dr. William’s office assistant. He has received professional training as both a medical assistant and a LPN. He is handling all the phone calls while the receptionist is at lunch. A patient calls and says he must have a prescription refill for Valium, an antidepressant mediation, called in right away to his pharmacy, since he is leaving for the airport in thirty minutes. He says that Dr. Williams is a personal friend and always gives him a small supply of Valium when he has to fly. No one except Jerry is in the office at this time. What should he do? (Fremgen, 2009). Overview Health care providers are faced with making difficult ethical decisions everyday. Moral and value systems influence the ethical decision process, but the law and licensure regulations do as well. This case study is an example of a potential ethical dilemma and a possible breach of the law. The following questions will be explored: 1. Does Jerry’s medical training qualify him to issue this refill order? 2. Would it make a difference if the medication is for controlling high blood pressure that the patient critically needs on a daily basis? 3. If Jerry calls in the refill and the patient has an adverse reaction while flying, is Jerry protected from a lawsuit under the doctrine of respondent...
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...many situations in the case study of Juan Duran that can be compared to the related theories in which were presented this week. The two theories in which will be most useful in meeting the needs for the patient Juan Duran are Dorothea Orem’s Model in which will look at self care as well as Betty Neuman’s Theory in which will present with the stressors in life and their effects. Mr. Duran has many obstacles to overcome including poor vision, loss of a daughter, wife not able to speak fluent English, and a chronic disease of diabetes to manage. In order to manage all of the many stress and obstacles Mr. Duran is currently facing the two theories mentioned will help in planning care and assisting the family. Presented in the case study is Mr. Juan Duran a Mexican American from Chula Vista, California. The patient is married and a navy veteran who has been diagnosed with diabetes. Due to his limited eye sight, Mr. Duran has had a difficult time performing self-care by injecting insulin himself. After meeting with the doctor, Mr. Duran was assigned a diabetic counselor at the VA (Veterans Affair Medical Building) to learn how to give himself the medication. His wife was not present in the case study in which would be necessary if she were going to be the person injecting the medication. Also at home Mr. and Mrs. Duran speak Spanish due to Mrs. Duran’s limited English. If the patient and wife were present and the counselor spoke Spanish or had a medical translator available...
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...Ethics case study Ashley Bruckman March 12, 2013 HCS/335 Introduction Jerry McCall is Dr. William’s office assistant. He has received professional training as both a medical assistant and a LPN. He is handling all the phone calls while the receptionist is at lunch. A patient calls and says he must have a prescription refill for Valium, an antidepressant medication, called in right away to his pharmacy, since he is leaving for the airport in thirty minutes. He says that Dr. Williams is a personal friend and always gives him a small supply of Valium when he has to fly. No one except Jerry is in the office at this time. What should he do? In this case study I am going to answer a few questions and give some advice to jerry. Jerry is just on call while Dr. Williams is away; even though he has had medical assisting and LPN training does not qualify him to refill the prescription. LPN’s do see patients while the Doctor is out but for prescriptions the doctor must authorize it. The fact that the medications are to make the patient comfortable while he is flying is not an urgent matter. If the situation were more impotant I could see where it would be hard for jerry to tell the patient he can’t refill him prescriptions; nevertheless he is not authorized. It would not make any difference if the medication was for high blood pressure or something that had to be taken daily, jerry is still not licensed to prescribe anything so his hands are completely tied in this situation...
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...Telehealth utilizes electronic data and telecommunications to support long-distance, clinician-based patient and professional health education, public health and health administration (HHS, 2013). Components of telehealth include videoconferencing, the internet, store-and-forward imaging, streaming media, terrestrial and wireless communications (HHS, 2013). Telehealth systems such as the Health Resources and Services Administration aims to increase and improve the use of telehealth to meet the needs of its underserved patients by (HHS, 2013): •Developing relationships within HRSA and other Federal agencies, states and private organizations to create telehealth projects. •Administers telehealth grant programs. •Provides technical support. •Evaluation of telehealth technology and programs. •Development of telehealth policy initiatives aimed at improving care access and quality health services. •Promotion of knowledge exchange regarding best telehealth practices. Telehealth is an invaluable addition to multiple care settings. Store-and-forward programs provide the smaller hospital to draw upon the knowledge of its much larger counterparts (HHS, 2013). As such, teleradiology and teledermatology programs are of particular interest to critical care facilities and rural health centers (HHS, 2013). Applications such as teleradiology and remote EKG services carry a greater likelihood of being covered by third party payers as they do not typically involve...
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...health science that would assist me in pursuing a medical career as a doctor. On the other hand, my career vision is to one day be able to provide affordable health care to marginalized communities in the United States. However, I am certain that if I do not complete my college degree I could never have the opportunity to achieve my career goals. I decided that I will attain a career as a doctor since my passion has always been assisting others and trying to improve their quality of life. Therefore, I think that pursuing such a career will provide me the opportunity to help improve the community's health quality conditions and learn about their medical needs. After becoming a certified doctor, I want to specialize in oncology, the study of cancer, and add my knowledge to the cancer research field. Furthermore, I want to contribute back to undeserved populations in the U.S. that struggle every day to sustain a family, and who do not have as much access to medical assistance as other privileged groups. The first health project I want to accomplish throughout my career as a doctor is to establish a free clinic where affordable medical assistance can be provided regardless of the patient's immigration status. The diverse health services would include free doctor consultations, low-price or free medication, and nutritional classes to prevent the presence of diabetes or heart disease. I also intend to provide an interpreter for patients in case they do not speak English and establish a financial...
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...Ethics Case Study Kimberly Bellas HCS/335 September 22, 2014 Instructor: Robert Vella Ethics Case Study Based on the scenario given, it is evident that the patient is in desperate need of his medication and needs immediate assistance. Jerry McCall is the office assistant for Dr. William’s office and is obligated to somehow help this patient in the best way possible. Luckily Mr. McCall has had prior professional training as both a Medical Assistant and an LPN. First and foremost we would need to consider whether or not Mr. McCall’s medical licenses are up-to-date. If they are, then there are a few ways in which he can help this patient. If not, he would need to find some medical professional to assist him with this patient’s inquiry. With that taken into account we are assuming that his professional medical licenses are up-to-date and that he will be able to assist this patient as quickly as possible. A medical assistant can have a variety of job responsibilities including administrative duties and clinical duties. Some job responsibilities that a medical assistant may have but are not limited to are: taking medical histories, explaining treatment procedures to patients, instructing patients about medication and special diets, preparing and administering medications as directed by a physician and authorizing prescription refills as directed by a physician ("American Association Of Medical Assistants", 2014). Assuming that Mr. McCall has access to patient’s charts and clinical...
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...The stakeholders and role players that are necessary to achieve success in preventing wrong site surgery include the board of trustees, medical executive committee, directors, senior management, nurses, physicians, other healthcare staff and ancillary staff. The senior management members are the role models for the hospital staff. Similarly, all leadership roles within the healthcare organization, formal and informal, must possess and exhibit the identical vision of zero patient harm (Chassin and Loeb, 2013). Additionally, the Risk Manager and Quality Department staff performs an important role in implementing, maintaining, assessing, and auditing quality and patient safety initiatives. In this case analysis, the key roles that influenced the outcome of a wrong-site surgery event include the emergency department triage staff, emergency department staff (physician, nurse, medical assistant or technician, and/or emergency medical technician), holding area nurse, anesthesiologist, surgeons, and operating room staff. There were plenty of opportunities to stop the sentinel event from occurring. The patient went from one caregiver to the next without a proper verification process. The senior management team with the support of the board of trustees and medical executive committee must hold all healthcare staff employees responsible for their part in risk reduction (Health Research & Educational Trust and Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare, 2014)....
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...IOM 1999, described the healthcare in the US as not safe as it should be. According to the two major studies, 44,000 people out of 98,000 die each year in the hospitals due to the medical errors which can be preventable. The issues which commonly occur during the provision of care are adverse drug effects, improper treatment, surgical injuries, wrong site surgeries, suicide, restraint injuries or death, falls, burns pressure ulcers and wrong patient identification. These errors cost between $ 17-29 billion per year in the hospitals worldwide. It also affects the trust and patient-provider relationship. The article further talks about the factors which are the leading cause of medical errors are a “decentralized and fragmented system” where...
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...adequately for the sick.” The Hippocratic Oath is a powerful document, binding medical practitioners to a certain set of morals they must adhere to when assisting their patients on matters of life and death. With so much at stake, nothing should come between a doctor and his responsibility to his patient as defined by this document - in theory. However, there is always one uncertainty that tarnishes this idealistic dedication of the physician:...
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...American Nursing Code of Ethics, describes the nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient. (ANA, 2010). Another important goal is to maintain safety, dignity and accountability. Respect the patient’s confidentiality and autonomy. The Nurse acts as the person who helps and advocates for the patient and their families about health care and end of life decisions. According to the American Nurse Association Code of Ethics, Provision 1:1 states that, “a fundamental principle that underlines all nursing practice is respect for the inherent worth, dignity, and human rights of every individual” (ANA, 2010). In the case study of Marianne a comatose patient, she has no advance directives, leaving her husband and children to make the decisions with different opinions. (Chitty & Black, 2011, pg.175). The ethics committee is already working on the case and are assisting the family in the decision making process. The nurse must ethically accept the family’s...
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...Ethics. Prof. Agapito Sta. Romana. ETHICS INTERVIEW ON REGISTERED NURSE Abstract Registered nurses are normally the clinicians who are expected to have taken their studies up to at least an associate degree in nursing. These practitioners are usually trained for about two years in such areas as medications, anatomy, and physiology as well as practical patient care. These professionals are also expected to pass the board exam that qualifies them to be accepted in their particular nations that they belong as well as the whole world at large. Moreover, they are also required to have a license from the board that governs their profession. (American Nurses Association, 2010) The registered nurses usually work under the supervision of the qualified physicians in the hospitals and are also assisted by the nurse assistants in those particular clinics. Nurse assistants are often considered of lower medical qualifications as compared to the registered nurses in the hospitals. According to my knowledge before the interview, a registered nurse profession gives them the ability to be mandated to supervise licensed practical nurses, assisting nurses, as well as the orderlies in any given clinic or hospital. (Clark, Cowan & Wortley, 2009) Moreover, I believed that according to the medical knowledge that registered nurses possess they are supposed to be in a position to make informed and sober decisions as far as any treatment is concerned. I also believed that registered...
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...CASE STUDY Included in section 1300.360 RN Scope of Practice, Title 68 Professions and Occupations of the Nurse Practice Act it clearly states that nurses will advocate for patients. What this means to me is that if a patient is not of sound mental or physical state, that the nurse will act as the patients advocate in any situation that could or would affect the patient’s medical status. In this case in particular, the patient has an “advanced directive” in place that states his medical wishes. The patient also has a diagnosis of a mild mental retardation condition. The case study does not elaborate on the extent to the mental retardation; however he does have the legal advanced directive. Title 68: Professions and Occupations, Section 1300.350: Standards or Professional Conduct for Registered Professional Nurses in Illinois states several items. In reference to this case study, the most important would be to “report unsafe, unethical or illegal health care practice or conditions to appropriate authorities”. In my opinion, Dr. G is overriding the wishes the patient has listed in his “advanced directive”. What good is a document of this nature if a physician can make the choice to override it at anytime? The patient also has a “durable power of attorney”, which is Mr. B. This was also overridden by Dr. G. Both of these instances are unethical and could be challenged in a court of law. This would be a hard situation to be faced with. If I were placed in this situation...
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...Abstract The ethics paper that will be conferred today will explain in detail the various situations that most medical employees deal with on a daily basis. The case study will go over in a detail what a medical Doctor, staff members that work for the Doctor or the patients should do in any health care associated situation. Nowadays, providing patients with excellent patient care has become more pertinent to the lives of the patient’s especially if they are dealing with a specific sickness or disease that cannot be treated. The need for a patient to receive medical treatment can be very cost effective, and the insurance companies have made it very challenging for a patient to obtain medical insurance so that they are able to attain the proper care for their sickness. Ethics Case Study Today, most individuals are advised by private direction to be in agreement with performing illegal medical practice actions. However, if they are new to situations like this they will not be aware that making such decisions can lead to ethical and legal issues. In the case of Jerry McCall it gives an excellent explanation of how the health care departments have been modified today. Does Jerry’s medical training qualify him to issue the refill Order? Why or Why not? Jerry is a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) and has also had training in Medical Assisting (MA) as well, however even though he is a licensed nurse, he is not qualified to write prescriptions for patients’ medications regardless...
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