Reflect On The Personal Perceptions And Meaning Of Health, Illness, Dying And Death

Running head: REFLECT ON THE PERSONAL PERCEPTIONS
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Reflect On The Personal Perceptions And Meaning Of Health, Illness, Dying And Death
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Institution

REFLECT ON THE PERSONAL PERCEPTIONS 2
This reflection paper is grounded on an article with a title “End-of-Life Health Care
Disparity” A case of MS. L a young woman 18 years old diagnosed with acute lymphocytic
leukemia and she was living in Southeastern United States. The article talks of painful
experiences which she underwent through as a result of her immigration status, with no
insurance coverage which made her not to acquire medical care. Ms. L was very ill when she
was being admitted to the medical intensive care unit and she was unconscious.
During her case presentation in the ICU, every healthcare provider could tell with just a
few words that Ms. L was in a tough condition which is referred to as “slow code,” where her
life was being kept alive by life support machines. Ms. L was in multi-organ failure and cardiac
arrest was on the horizon because she was decompensating. Her family members could not be
contacted because they were in her home country and the only representative was a young man
named Mr. K who was her medical interpreter. Mr. K has informed the situation which her
partner was in and she would not survive; he cried and wailed that God will save her life. He
was asked if he was comfortable for medical practitioners to do everything in order to save her
life and he agreed. Ms. L died the following day after receiving some rounds of chest
compressions.
I failed to comprehend why a case like this could come up and be considered as ethical in
healthcare. It was indictable that Ms. L was denied medical treatment only because she was not
in a position to cater for her healthcare. She was later offered care when she was in her last
minutes of life. Both the process of birth and death can be compared because both contain
emotional events. The end-life needs of a person should be provided, medical providers offer
clinical support for the patient and family members also have a great role in the process.