Ethical Issues in Nursing/Medical- to Trat or Not Treat a Patient?

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Many times, healthcare personnel are faced with difficult decisions while in their line of duty. For instance a patient is brought in the ER and his condition evaluated. It is reported that the individual’s condition requires urgent medical attention. This individual does not have a penny to his name and is unable to pay for the medical attention that he is in dire need of. He is not covered by the medical insurance scheme that can offset the medical bill. As a medical practitioner, what action does one take? The medical practitioner has to ensure that the actions that he takes abide by the law of the land, that they are ethically sound and justifiable and also do not violate the hospital policy. In many healthcare institutions there are limited funds and making a decision to treat a patient free of charge would likely get a practitioner in trouble with the hospitals administration. There are legal issues tied to this scenario. For instance the EMTALA Act of 1968 requires that a patient be treated even in absence of funds to pay for the medical bill especially if the initial examination reveals need for urgent treatment (Buchbinder, &Shanks, 2007). Ethical considerations like the principle of beneficence that requires a medical practitioner to do his best to offer the best care possible to a patient come into play and it is imperative that the medical practitioner considers all the legal and ethical issues surrounding the case before making decisions. This is just an example of the challenges that medical practitioners come across in their line of duty and in which it is necessary to consider both ethical and legal issues while making decisions.This paper is going to focus on an ethical dilemma involving geriatric with regard to treatment versus non treatment. A 67 year old with chronic renal failure, hypertension and type 2 diabetes was initially admitted to

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