HLT-312v Week 4 Assignment – Applying Ethical Decision Making in Health Care

Details:

In preparation for this assignment, read the assigned article, “Making the Case for Ethical Decision-Making Models,” and the following case study:

Case Study

Carrie, a 26 year-old female, is admitted to the hospital following a major motor vehicle accident. She is unresponsive and on life-support machines. The physicians and staff have expressed concerns regarding her ability to recover, as she is now in a persistent vegetative state with no brain activity. Her parents believe that she will recover given time and are insistent that she continue to receive aggressive treatment. Carrie’s husband, Bob, is at her bedside. He is requesting that the physicians stop providing treatment and is adamant that keeping her on the machines is against her wishes. The patient does not have a living will or a medical power of attorney identified. As a member of the ethics committee, you have been contacted to determine the best course of action.

Assignment

Based on the article’s discussion, apply the four key aspects of decision-making models to the case study.

Write a 1-2 page letter to the attending physician and family in which you:

1. Describe the ethical dilemma.
2. Offer your recommendation for the best course of action.
3. Provide rationale for your recommendation.
4. Identify the ethical problem.
5. Gather relevant facts and information, considering others in terms of impact, views, and opinions.
6. Identify different possible options and choose and justify one option.
7. Implement the decision.

APA format is not required, but solid academic writing is expected.

You are required to submit this assignment to Turnitin. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.

 

MORE INFO 

Applying Ethical Decision Making in Health Care

Introduction

Good health care is an ethical enterprise. It involves making decisions about what to do and when to do it, based on the patient’s needs and wishes. While good decision-making does not require a medical degree or any special skills, it does require an understanding of underlying principles and values that affect patient care. In this article we will explore some of these principles and values as well as how they apply within the context of ethical decision making in health care settings such as hospitals, clinics or nursing homes – or even your own home!

Ethical decision making is a central element of good patient care.

Ethical decision making is a central element of good patient care. It is not only about the law, but what is right for the patient and health care professional.

The importance of ethical decision making can be seen in how it affects both professional behavior and quality of life for patients.

Although ethical decisions are usually made intuitively, there are many reasons to try to make the process formal.

Ethics is not just a set of rules. It’s also an important part of the medical profession, because it helps us make good choices and do the right thing by patients.

Ethics can be defined as: “the study or theory about what is morally right.” In other words, ethics deals with making ethical decisions—choices that are based on what’s best for people or society as a whole.

There are many reasons to try to make this process formal:

Understanding the principles and values involved in an ethical decision can help you answer questions and solve problems.

Understanding the principles and values involved in an ethical decision can help you answer questions and solve problems.

• Principles are general statements about what is right or wrong, while values are more specific expectations that guide behavior. For example, a principle might be: “The doctor must always keep the patient’s best interests at heart.” A value could be “The doctor should try to do everything possible to make sure the patient lives a happy life.”

• This information will give you an idea of what kinds of decisions come up when considering ethical dilemmas in health care settings. You’ll also learn about some important concepts like impartiality and justice — which aren’t just abstract ideas but could have real consequences for patients’ lives!

Solving an ethical problem can be more effective if you involve other people.

Solving an ethical problem can be more effective if you involve other people.

One way to involve others is to use a group decision-making process. A group of people who share the same goal or interest can make better decisions than individuals, because they have access to more information and are more likely to be able to reach consensus on how best to achieve that goal. For example, a hospital may decide that it would be helpful for patients who need surgeries after delivering their babies at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas (a highly trusted institution) instead of St Luke’s Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (also highly trusted). This might mean asking all staff members at both hospitals whether they would prefer having their deliveries done at Parkland or St Luke’s; then comparing costs; and finally deciding which facility offers better outcomes overall based on these factors—not just cost alone!

Solving an ethical problem requires some understanding of the legal context within which it arose.

• Ethical decision making is not a simple process. It requires some understanding of the legal context within which it arose.

• The law is not always clear and its interpretation can change over time, so you must be aware of when your situation fits into this changing landscape.

• The law varies from place to place, sometimes in ways that contradict ethical principles or even common sense (a topic for another day).

Ethical decision-making can help a health care professional avoid harming patients and improve their health outcomes.

Ethical decision-making can help health care professionals avoid harming patients and improve their health outcomes.

Ethical decision-making is a central element of good patient care. It’s important to understand the principles and values involved in an ethical problem, as well as how they apply to you personally, before trying to solve it. For example:

• How do your values guide your thinking about this situation? Is it okay for me to lie about my age when asking for a job? What if I need someone else’s bank account number so I can pay them back for something they did for me? Would it be okay for me to steal from them if I needed more money than they had available at that time?

• Has anyone else already explained how their ethical system works (for example, what would happen if everyone did everything exactly according to their own personal rules)? Will anyone ever hear back from this person again once they’ve left town tomorrow morning without saying goodbye first thing in the morning before leaving home – even though she knows she’ll see them again soon enough!

Conclusion

In conclusion, ethical decision-making is a central component of good patient care. It helps health care professionals avoid harming patients and improve their health outcomes. We have only touched on some of the principles involved in ethical decision making here, but we hope this has given you enough information to start thinking about how to apply these principles in your work as well as knowing more about what they mean for your practice!