Health Care Ethics Assignment PDF

Health Care Ethics
Ethical Issues

Ethical Issues
This paper is being presented in order to highlight the ethical issues in the case study of
Amos who was the student of the high school and use to live in the residential property near
to his school in Malawi. There were many other students who use to live in the boarding
provided by the school. One day school reported to the hospital that students have come
across with a disease i.e. Cholera Outbreak. Amos was also going through this disease and
reached the hospital, however, doctors and nurses denied treating him because they do not
have enough medical supplies to treat everyone. Therefore, they said that they will only treat
students who live in the school boarding. Due to this Amos went his home to get the
treatment but unfortunately as he was severely dehydrated.
The paper will perform the analysis of the ethical issues in relations to the notions of human
dignity, human rights, and professional codes of conduct, professional policies, and principles
of health care ethics. Further, recommendations will be made for the professional practice.
Ethics is a moral principles system; it is related to identifying what is best for people and
community and is also explained as moral philosophy (Barrett, D., Ortmann, Dawson, Saenz,
Reis & Bolan, 2016). The ethical issues are said to be a conflict of right or wrong or
condition forcing substitutes on an entity looking for ethical behaviour (Levine, 2017). In the
presented case study where there was a spread of severe disease i.e. Cholera outbreak, there
were some ethical issues such as:
Balancing care quality and efficiency- The healthcare system is facing various challenges
or issues related to the balancing quality and safety with efficiency (Berglund, 2012). The
above case presented is also facing this challenges in which they are not able to balance in the

safety and quality provided to the children and due to which Amos who was the student of
high school died because of not getting proper treatment of the disease.
Improving access to care- The ACA (Affordable Care Act) was frequently left untouched
by the confiscate, the continuing issue of offering everybody with access to basic care in
terms of medical remains a concern (Neese, 2017). This is one of the key issues in the
healthcare sector as presented in the above case in which everyone was not getting the
treatment.
Building and sustaining the healthcare workforce of the future- As the generation of baby
boomer remains is increasing there is a need of additional healthcare professionals in order to
take care of this generation or population to manage to treat chronic diseases, organize care
and offer many other services. However, there are not enough capable, concerned people who
not only take entry as the healthcare personnel but continue to deliver that care. In spite of a
current influx of younger people into the treatment occupation, for example, many specialists
are predicting a recovery of the nursing scarcity by the end of this decade. In the presented
case study there was lack of medical supplies and nurses to take care of every student and
therefore they denied treating those students who use to live in the residential property and
not in the school boarding.
Allocating limited medications and donor organs- Medication scarcities frequently happen
because there is not sufficient economic enticement for producers. Therefore, there is lack of
critical medications accessibility to fulfill the needs of the people in the future (AMN
Healthcare, 2013).
Analysis
Human Dignity

Dignity reflects that every individual has worthy respect, honor and Medicare for who they
are, not just for what they can do (McGregor, 2017). In other words, human dignity or self-
respect cannot be earned and not even can be taken away. It is an absolute provided to human
as gift same as Medicare it is also the right of every person to receive medical treatment
deprived of cast, place, age, etc. (Barak, 2015) The above ethical issue i.e. of balancing care
quality and efficiency is against the human dignity as every human has right to get safe and
quality of care whenever needed.
Human Rights
The human right to health states that everybody possesses the right to the maximum possible
standard of mental and physical health, which comprises entree to every service of medical,
sufficient food, hygiene, health conditions of working and decent housing and a clean
environment (National Economic and Social Rights Initiatives, 2018). The issue which was
faced in the above case study of improving access to care which is against the human rights
as every human has right to get the medical facility, however, Amos was denied by the
doctors to access the medical facility just because he used to live in a residential property and
not in school boarding.
Professional Code of Ethics i.e. be inclusive
According to this code of ethics, the medical professionals need to welcome and help people
of every identity and backgrounds (Betterteam, 2018). This includes every member of any
gender, expression, ethnicity, national, sexual orientation, economic class, immigration
status, size, educational level, religion, physical ability, national origin, age, family status,
race, culture, color, political belief, and mental ability (Freegard & Isted, 2012). Considering
the above case the professionals i.e. doctors and nurses who were on duty of taking care and
providing medical treatment to the student. It was their duty to allow Amos to enter the

hospital and take treatment; however, they denied providing him treatment because he was
not staying in the school boarding.
Principles of Health Care Ethics i.e. Beneficence
According to this principle, providers of health care should perform all the activities that they
can do to benefit the patient in every condition. All measures and conducts mentioned should
be with the purpose to do the best for the patient (Beauchamp & Childress, 2013). In order to
ensure beneficence, practitioners of medicine should create and maintain high level of
knowledge and skill, must be confirmed that they are qualified in the most present and finest
medical practices, and should go through their individual patient’s conditions, what is best for
single patient and not necessary that will benefit the another patient (SJU, 2018). Considering
the above case the doctors and nurses went against this principle by denying Amos for the
treatment of severe disease i.e. Cholera outbreak due to which he died. It was doctor’s duty to
consider his medical condition and provide his proper treatment.
Recommendations
From the above case analysis, it can be recommended that doctor and nurses who were on the
duty to provide treatment to the school students should have followed all the codes and
conduct of their profession and have allowed Amos for the treatment which would have
saved his life. However, this didn't happen therefore, it can be said that all the global
professionals of health sector must go through their codes and conduct and should remember
their initial oath which they took while entering in this profession of helping every patient in
his or her worst condition without considering their age, religion, location, family status, etc.
This is being recommended because according to the human rights every person has right to
access the medical facilities.

Besides this, the case study highlighted that there was scarcity of medical facilities due to
which doctors have to say no to Amos there’re, it can be recommended that government
should take it seriously and should try to increase the number of health facilities, doctors and
nurses so that they can save provide quality of assistance to the patients.
The school authorities should also have taken some steps to save Amos but they didn't,
therefore, it can be recommended that every school should appoint a doctor considering the
health of every student whether they are living in boarding or outside the premises. Along
with this, they should maintain contact with nearby hospitals that have sufficient facilities and
can help in an emergency.
In the conclusion, it can be said that if the school authorities and responsible doctors would
have considered the health situation of Amos and followed the codes of conduct of their
profession then would have resulted in saving his life. However, they violated the principle of
Health Care Ethics i.e. Beneficence and went against human dignity, human rights. The
above paper has highlighted each ethical issue that is present in the case i.e. Balancing care
quality and efficiency, Improving access to care, Building and sustaining the healthcare
workforce of the future, and Allocating limited medications and donor organs. The paper has
done the analysis of all the ethical issues in relation to the notions of human rights,
professional codes and conduct, human dignity, and principles of health care ethics.

References
AMN Healthcare. (2013). Five Top Ethical Issues in Healthcare. Retrieved from
https://www.amnhealthcare.com/latest-healthcare-news/five-top-ethical-issues-
healthcare/
Barak, A. (2015). Human Dignity. 3rd edn. U.K: Cambridge University Press.
Barrett, D., Ortmann, L., Dawson, A., Saenz, C., Reis, A., & Bolan, G. (2016). Public Health
Ethics: cases spanning the globe. Retrieved from
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-319
Beauchamp, T., & Childress, J. (2013). Principles of biomedical ethics. 7th edn. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Berglund, C. (2012). Ethics for health care. 4th edn. South Melbourne: Oxford University
Press.
Betterteam. (2018). Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct Sample Template. Retrieved
from https://www.betterteam.com/code-of-ethics-and-professional-conduct
Freegard, H., & Isted, L. (2012). Ethical practice for health professionals. 2nd edn. South
Melbourne: Engage.
Levine, M.L. (2017). The Elderly: Legal and Ethical Issues in Healthcare Policy. 2nd edn.
U.K: Routledge.
McGregor, S.J. (2017). Human Dignity: Establishing Worth and Seeking Solutions. 2nd edn..
Germany: Springer.

National Economic and Social Rights Initiatives. (2018). What is the Human Right to Health
and Health Care? Retrieved from https://www.nesri.org/programs/what-is-the-
human-right-to-health-and-health-care
Neese, B. (2017). Ethical Issues in Healthcare in 2017. Retrieved from
https://online.alvernia.edu/ethical-issues-in-healthcare-2017/
SJU. (2018). How the Four Principles of Health Care Ethics Improve Patient Care.
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