...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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...Knowledge Area Module VI Contemporary Issues and the Ethical Delivery of Health Services Student: Harold Taitt, harold.taitt@waldenu.edu Student ID # A00293212 Program: Ph.D. Health Services Specialization: Health Management and Policy Faculty Mentor: Dr. Robert Hoye, robert.hoye@waldenu.edu Faculty Assessor: Dr. Jim Goes, jim.goes@waldenu.edu Walden University May 10, 2013 Abstract Breadth Component In this age of rapidly evolving technological advances, many of the legal and ethical issues that are challenging the delivery of health care and the health care profession are new. As we confront the legal, moral, and ethical aspects of health care, we are seldom faced with decisions that require or are resolved by simple right or wrong answers (Edge & Kreiger, 1998). In the Breadth component of KAM VI, I focus on several ethical theories and how those theories influence the way ethical issues and concerns are addressed and managed in the allocation and delivery of health care services. I critically assess and evaluate those theories, concepts, and derivative principles as they impact important decisions and the implications of those decisions within the context of social change and with special emphasis on health care management and policy. In addition, I discuss the key assumptions on which the selected theories are constructed, compare and contrast the writers’ interpretations across theories, and conclude by providing a critical commentary on the merits of the selected...
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...In Conjunction with History of Ethics Instructor: Robert Cavalier Teaching Professor Robert Cavalier received his BA from New York University and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Duquesne University. In 1987 he joined the staff at Carnegie Mellon's Center for Design of Educational Computing (CDEC), where he became Executive Director in 1991. While at CDEC, he was also co-principal in the 1989 EDUCOM award winner for Best Humanities Software (published in 1996 by Routledge as A Right to Die? The Dax Cowart Case). He also coauthored the CD-ROM The Issue of Abortion in America (Rountledge, 1998) Dr. Cavalier was Director of CMU's Center for the Advancement of Applied Ethics and Political Philosophy from 2005-2007. He currently directs the Center's Digital Media Lab which houses Project PICOLA (Public Informed Citizen Online Assembly), and is also co-Director of Southwestern Pennsylvania Program for Deliberative Democracy. Co-Editor of Ethics in the History of Western Philosophy (St. Martin's/Macmillan, England, 1990), Editor of The Impact of the Internet on Our Moral Lives (SUNY, 2003) and other works in ethics as well as articles in educational computing, Dr. Cavalier is internationally recognized for his work in education and interactive multimedia. He was President of the "International Association for Computing and Philosophy" (2001 - 2004) and Chair of the APA Committee on Philosophy and Computers (2000-2003). Dr. Cavalier has given numerous addresses and...
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...Kyle Thompson – 05970640 Management of discharge Management skills in adult nursing UZTR6D4-40-2 05970640 The NMC Code (2008) charges nurses to protect confidential information, and to only use it for the purposes given – for their treatment. Therefore all patients and events mentioned in this essay are inspired by real patients and events, but names, locations, dates and other details have been altered or obscured to make identification impossible. Following the introduction of the knowledge and skills framework (DH 2004a) and emphasis on quality of health care and patient centred, interprofessional, health and social care (DH 2000; Leathard 2003; Thompson et al. 2002) health care professionals and students will need to be able to demonstrate the quality of our care and team working abilities. There is a connection between practice and thinking about practice – action and reflection are interdependent; they need one another. Reflection may be triggered by an awareness of a gap between theory and practice, a difference between what ‘should be’ and ‘what is’ (Sullivan & Decker 2005). Our actions and the quality of our care are improved by reflection-on-action, by making sense of what we have experienced, and thinking about how we might act differently in the future (Lillyman & Ghaye 2000). Reflection has a rôle in maintaining one's personal portfolio and maintaining competency and continuing professional development. Support and supervision from managers, who already have a responsibility...
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