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Health Care Ethics Analysis | Case Study

   

Added on  2020-04-01

9 Pages2715 Words136 Views

ETHICSPage 2 of 9In the day to day life, a number of ethical dilemmas are faced by people where there is a need to choosebetween such alternative approaches, which are both correct at some level, and at the same time, only oneof these choices can be undertaken. The ethics are such codes through which the behaviour and decisionof a person is governed and this depends upon their values and the morals followed by them (Noddings,2013). The ethical decisions have to be based on integrity and trust, where complex issues of governance,compliance and diversity are included. When an ethical issue is faced by an individual, it becomesimportant to uphold certain things like respect towards human dignity, ethical theories, and professionalrequirements in terms health care (Dewey, 2016). In the following parts, the given case study has beenanalysed in terms of the ethical issues raised and what was required as per the professional and healthcare standards and the ethical theories. In the end, certain recommendations have been drawn, which needto be followed when faced with such scenario. The first and foremost ethical issue which was raised in this case was sending Jim home. And the secondethical issue of this case was the surgeon coming to hospital in an intoxicated condition. Both thesescenarios have been discussed particularly because these two relate to the course being undertaken, whichrelates to nursing profession and also as this relates to the professional duties of those engaged in nursingpractices. A moral obligation and a fundamental human right is human dignity, which is given a lot of focus andemphasis in the field of nursing. This is a concept which is given utmost importance in the professionalvalues and the same is deemed as a part of the ethical issues in the nursing practices. As a result of thehuman nature, when it comes to the nursing professional, dignity is deemed as a topic of interest acrossthe globe (Chan, 2015). Human dignity is a fundamental, yet multidimensional, complex and vagueconcept. It requires that each human has to be individually respected and treated in an equal manner asbeing a unique human. It is a basic necessity for patients and also for the other humans involved in thisprofession. In moral codes, it is deemed as a duty and is a workplace moral obligation of nurses(Parandeh et al, 2016).

ETHICSPage 3 of 9In the first ethical issue of this case, an ethical question was raised regarding whether it was right thing onpart of Henry to do by sending back Jim who was a 73 year old person and even after three months oftherapy following his knee replacement, there were very less improvement in his mobility. The reasonthat an ethical issue was raised was because by sending Jim away, the human dignity of Jim was notrespected. By giving other patients preference over Jim, he was not given the equal treatment which wasrequired due to the need of nursing profession to uphold human dignity of a person. The other ethical issue was raised on part of the surgeon. This was because he came to work smelling ofalcohol and this was done on days when he performed surgery. The condition of the surgeon is notimproved and he continues to come in an intoxicated condition. Here also the respect to human dignitywas not upheld as the people on whom the surgeon performed the surgery were put at risk. He wassupposed to work in a condition where he would be able to perform his best and uphold the fundamentalright of respecting the human dignity of his patients. But by intoxicating himself, he was putting them atrisk, along with their human dignity. Hence, the ethical issue in the two cases was raised due to disrespecttowards human dignity.Utilitarianism is a leading ethical theory where the righteousness of any action is determined bymeasuring the happiness, which is attained after undertaking the action, with regards to the field ofpositivism (Barrow, 2015). Under this ethical theory, such an act is deemed as the right one which iscorrect in a moral manner and where the person is set on the correct path. And at the same time,maximum equilibrium is produced with regards to the benefits which impact the other person, incomparison to the loss of other (Santa Carla University, 2014). Hence, where the maximum benefit isattained, the act would be deemed as correct, irrespective of the manipulation, lies and coercion involved.In short, this theory deems such an action as ethical where the maximum utility is attained (Albee, 2014). In the first ethical issue, Henry sends back Jim for the greater good. This is because by sending Jim back,Henry could focus on the different patients who come and who are in more urgent need of care than

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