Even though many of these elderly patient’s have Living Wills in place, the dilemma at times is that the family is not quite ready to let go. The patient’s wish’s regarding what they would choose if faced with a terminal illness with no hope of recovery should take precedence over anything else, but this is not always the case. As healthcare workers, we are often faced with this dilemma, dealing with families not willing to let go, even though it is obvious that the patient is suffering and there is no chance of recovery. Is allowing the patient a “good death” what is morally right? Or, is honoring the family’s wishes to keep that patient alive at all cost morally acceptable?
The patient has a right to decide one’s medical care. One also has a right to know of any side effects of treatments. June needs to be told what may happen without the feeding tube and what can be expected with the feeding tube. June also has a right to have her health information kept confidential, with information given only to those she designates as being allowed to have her health information (Showalter, 2008). It is noted that in the absence of a progressive terminal disease, the feeding tube may be used to prolong life and since the patient is not dying of another cause, discontinuing the feeding tube would imply a desire to cause the patient’s death.
Physician assisted suicide should be a right given to all people who are suffering from a painful, degenerative, or deadly condition. Anyone who might never enjoy the luxuries of living a happy and healthy life again. Though several ongoing debates are against physician-assisted suicide, ethicists are still not the one who is responsible to make this decision. Patients have the right to free will and human dignity that gives them the right to choose physician assisted suicide. Being able to have this choice allows the patient to maintain some control over their devastating situation.
It is important to support people who are nearing the end of life to maintain the best quality of life possible. To support them in having much control over decisions, care and treatment as possible. Good end of life care helps patients with life-limiting conditions to live as well as possible until they die,and to die with dignity. The term "life-limiting" includes organ or systems failure, where patients are likely to die suddenly as a result of an acute crisis ( for example heart failure, chronic respiratory disease). Life threatening acute conditions caused by sudden catastrophic events (for example brain damage from head injury).
One of the strengths of Natural Law theory is that it can be applied to any situation. This would mean that there is no need to look at specific situations circumstances to decide whether an action is morally right or wrong, you would just have to apply Natural Law Theory to it, regardless of any personal opinion, so therefore it is more straightforward. Also, because of this, this means that there is a certainty to the application of Natural Law in a society. If this was applied in every situation in a specific society, this would bring a level of security to the society, because there would be a set of base morals, which would be followed by everyone, and therefore making said society peaceful and harmonious. Natural Law Theory is a complete theory within itself, in that it contains everything you need to deal with character, motive and actions, and gives a day to day system for living a complete moral life, of which there is the benefit of fulfilling the purpose of which humans are designed to be on the Earth, according to the belief of Aquinas.
I feel like my job as a nurse would be to make sure that no errors occur, and that the patient is safe at all times. When researching my topic, I learned that a lot of patients in the hospital die due to medical errors. I also learned that a lot of injuries occur among hospitalized older adults due to safety related issues. I think it’s sad that many people are being harmed and losing their life all because of something that could have been prevented. Patient safety is a huge issue that should never be overlooked.
It is ones action that gives the group greater good, not an individual. Deontological Ethics Deontology is the theory that an individual does something because the individual believes it is the right thing to do. They do not look further into the action or bring the possible consequences to mind. They simply believe it is the correct thing to do and act upon it. Deontology is similar to Utilitarianism because it is again based on singular decisions of an individual.
It challenges trust between doctor and patient. We expect physicians to heal and preserve life, not to kill on request. I reply that I want to be able to trust my doctor to do what is best for me in every situation. I would not ask a doctor to do anything illegal, but if physician-assisted death were permitted by law, I would not want to be abandoned in my final hours. The main reason I’m against assisted suicide is Its God's place to decide the time and place of a person's death.
If you endorse real equality of opportunity than it is unclear where to stop, and in the end equality of opportunity will just end up being equality of outcome because if you have to equalise everything, everyone will be end up being given the same. Real equality of opportunity advances the concept of formal equality of opportunity. ‘Formal’ Equality of Opportunity requires that each person should have an equal chance of success in life regardless of factors such as their race, gender or religion and the law should not discriminate against individuals on such grounds. However, it has been argued that the removal of legal barriers to compete for goods does not do enough to ensure equality of opportunity. ‘Real’ or ‘Substantive’ equality of opportunity offers a better approach as it goes further than the formal account of equality of opportunity to stipulate that there are other factors affecting an individual’s prospects in life which need to be taken into account.
Patient confidentiality is one of the most important aspects of a medical office or facility. Not only does it keep the employees and the facility itself free from law suit and/or repercussion, it gains the trust of the incoming patients. The diligence and the carefulness of the employees in the medical office are the key to keeping records secure. There are many different steps that I would take to ensure the information of the patients that enter the facility I am employed in is kept secure and confidential. First and foremost I would take extra precaution to ensure my computer screen and patient files weren’t visible to other patients.