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(PDF) Hippocrates and the hippocratic oath

   

Added on  2021-06-17

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1Ethical issues.Students name:Institutional affiliation:
(PDF) Hippocrates and the hippocratic oath_1

2Introduction.The medical profession relies heavily on law and the identified ethical principles. Many ethical theories have been developed to underscore the expectations of medical practitioners in their professional practice. Taking to account the many clinical experiences and outcomes, it is essential to have a laid down mechanism to solve some of them. This shows the importance of the laws and legislations developed to this respect. As a characteristic of all laws, violation of themedical laws makes one answerable and possible punishments can be implemented. Medical ethics can be traced back to the ancient Greek where the medicine had its roots (Dove, 2016). The Hippocratic oath describes the duties and responsibilities of the doctor to the patient. It describes a relationship between the health provider and patient and also the interaction among the healthcare providers. It also set the foundation of the current ethical principles that have been developed and adopted in health care. According to Hunter (2015) ethics cannot be compromised if professionalism is to be upheld. At some point in history especially during the world wars, there was gross violation of human rights and disregard to human dignity (Rothman, 2017). Sometimes the medical innovations were used to cause harm. This necessitated the need to reevaluate the ethical principles among the medical practitioners.Ethical issues.Paramedics answered a distress call at Sandra’s house and found he two years old child, Millicent, lying on the floor crying. On examination, the came up with a provisional diagnosis ofa possible humerus fracture. They decide to take her to the hospital for further treatment. Sandra’s partner is visibly intoxicated and tries to prevent them from transporting Millicent to the hospital. The paramedic threaten that they would involve the police if he refused to allow
(PDF) Hippocrates and the hippocratic oath_2

3them carry on their duty. This brings up the issue of consent and when it can be considered valid during an emergency (Goldstein & Fu, 2015). It also shows a circumstance where the paramedic upheld their duty to the patient despite resistance from one of the individuals supposed to consent to ant treatment. Legally this may seem to be coercing the parent to allow them act in thebest interest of the patient. Ethically, after examining her, they assumed the duty of care which they have to carry on to completion in the interest of the patient.On further examination, paramedics discovered small round shaped burn on the legs and abdomen. They suspect physical abuse to the patient and inform the triage nurse on arrival. They had a duty to register their doubts for more investigations and determination of their suspicion. According to Campbell & Messing (2017) the law requires medical practitioners to report cases of child abuse to authorities for further actions to be taken to protect children. This was the lawful and ethical step to take under the circumstance.Beth, the triage nurse receives Millicent and promises to report the matter of abuse to the doctor. She has duty to the patient and has to carry on as she has promised. She decides to administer morphine. The agency nurse gives her the required dose for Millicent and asks her if she wanted some for herself. This raises the issue of drug abuse especially of some like morphinewhere dependency develops very fast. This also brings about the issue of medical practitioners working under the influence of drugs. They are more likely to make the wrong judgment (Byard & Payne-James, 2015). This is both an ethical and legal issue. It is likely to attract a malpractice and misconduct sue.Ethical issues analysis.
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