Advanced Directives and Do Not Resuscitate Kimberly Stanton HCA 322 Professor: Delores Thomas December 11, 2011 In health care, end of life decisions and advanced directives can be one of the most difficult processes and decisions that a patient and family may face. Each person through their life experiences and knowledge has to face difficult thought provoking decisions on what to do when it is possible that death may be eminent. Advances in medicine and technology have giving physicians the ability to prolong and sustain life more so than ever. Modern medicine allows for sustaining life when the physical body has shut down the mechanisms to keep humans alive. The advances we have made in medicine and technology have now made it possible
The really hard part for patients with MS is how they are able to continue their lives and being able to adjust their lives to their disease. Often they will need help from the people close to them to be able to understand and accept that they have to find a new way of continuing their lives to accommodate their Multiple Sclerosis. MS sufferers usually become dependent of the people close to them and this leads now and again to stress in their relationships. Sometimes it can result in the breakdown of a relationship with a life partner. Multiple Sclerosis results in a person and their families going through a lot of physical, psychological and emotional hardship, caretakers can often feel trapped by the task of looking after a person with
The emotional distress and other pressures inherent in situations in which patients are approaching the end of their life sometimes lead to misunderstandings and conflict between doctors and patients and those close to them, or between members of the healthcare team. However, this can usually be avoided through early, sensitive discussion and planning about how best to manage the patient’s care. Advanced care planning (ACP) is a process of discussion between an individual and his/her care provider. It is to make clear a person’s wishes in anticipation of a deteriorisation in their condition in the future, with associated loss of capacity to make decisions or communicate wishes to others. It only comes into effect if and when a person has lost such capacity.
In fact, patients may be caused additional, avoidable harm by failure to disclose because they lack information that would allow them to receive appropriate treatment should further complications arise (Hoy, 2006). In a recent survey, 77% of hospitals indicated that malpractice fear was the principal barrier to error disclosure. Malpractice liability and insurance costs have become so high that they have caused physicians to move their practices to other states and, in some states, institute work stoppages. Although physicians may want to do the right thing by disclosing errors to patients and apologizing for harm that occurred as a result of an error, physicians fear that an apology would lead to higher malpractice premiums and be admissible in court, should the patient decide to sue (Hoy, 2006). However, research on the relationship between error disclosure and malpractice liability has not found
This would be difficult without informing the parents. The patient’s parents must be informed because the patient is at an age where she in not capable of making her own medical decisions. The committee may have been called in to advise the nurse and physician involved as to what steps they should take to inform the parents. Patient confidentiality is vital to maintain patient trust. When a nurse breaches this trust patient outcomes can be jeopardized.
A physician job description is to aim at the provision of treatments with health benefits in the patient’s best interest, and to avoid adverse outcomes (Fiona Randall & Robin Downie 2010). Once a patient has died it is no coming back and the physician does not want this one their conscience when one day a cure could come along for terminally ill patients. Physicians are to heal and prolong life not take a life. Granted, physician assisted suicide if it does become legal it is still a decision left
In the scenario, Emergency department staff members were likely shaken by this poor outcome of Mr. B., and would be motivated to change to a safer model just to avoid a repeat in the future. Staff members may be reluctant to change because of established habits in patient flow. This reluctance to change would be an identifiable restraining force, which opposes process improvement. Implementing a model which allows for rapid, safe adjustment to increasing acuity would help avoid poor outcomes in the future. Follow-up is
The family of a person diagnosed with this disease will have to adjust to their loved one dealing with a situation that is `out of all their control. The family is also faced with the harsh reality of losing a loved one. A person diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma will have to deal with the fatigue caused by the anemia and or treatments being received. The individual will have to deal with the emotional side of the disease, they will have to try to understand what is happening with their body and also deal with the reality of being faced with death and
Inpatient vs. Outpatient treatment Christine R Jinks COM/155 June 29, 2013 Instructor Jennifer Murphy Inpatient vs. Outpatient treatment Are you or a family member struggling with an addiction and are confused on what to do? Reaching out and finding help can have an addict feeling humiliated and ashamed. It can become overwhelming trying to understand which treatment will be best. Understanding the treatment available and taking the step forward can change an addict’s life. There are many similarities between an outpatient treatment program and an inpatient treatment center, but the difference is important for a person’s recovery.
“Medicating Ourselves” In “Medicating Ourselves,” Robyn Sarah is concerned about the medications doctors are prescribing us. She believes it is doing us more harm than doing us good. She questions two specific disorders, ADD/ADHD and Depression, and explains the key reasons why. To medicate or not to medicate that is the question. Robyn believes that medication can be helpful, but she does give valid points about how it is over used.