Patient Autonomy: Patient Vulnerability- Advance Care Directives- Health Care Ethics Assignment
Task:
Essay Due Soon? Let Our Experts Help You Beat the Deadline!
Tell us about your assignment and we will find the best writer for your paper. Our Essay writing service covers over 243 courses and programs, catering to your specific needs.
Write My Essay For Me!Introduction
A principle is a fundamental pro position or starting point for ethical thinking from which specific goals or duties can be derived. In this module, you will be introduced to a range of principles that guide ethical decision-making in health care.
In Step 1, you will consider two principles derived from the Hippocratic Oath: beneficence and non-
maleficence. Among others, these principles are used as tools for ethical analysis and comparison,providing a sort of‘short hand’forthinking about ethical issues (Berglund,2012).
The principle of non-maleficence and the principle of beneficence
The principle of non-maleficence is expressed by one of the most quoted maxims in the history of health care, primum non nocere: ‘Above all, do no harm’. The principle of non-maleficence holds that it is a fundamental moral wrong to intentionally or negligently cause harm to a person. It is the foundation of basic rules such as ‘do not kill’, ‘do not cause pain’, ‘do not disable’, ‘do not cheat’ and ‘do not lie or break promises’.
The principle of beneficence refers to a moral obligation to act for the benefit of others (Beauchamp & Childress,2013);to do what is good and to provide care for others (Berglund,2012). That is, what health care professionals do for patients must be done to bring about a benefit to them and, in particular, to their health. Notably, much of what can be done in the way of health care can benefit others beyond the patient, such as the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture the patient’s medication, the medical device companies that manufacture the patient’s equipment, a clinician’s career objectives, and so forth. This is not necessarily wrong in itself; however, it is important to remember that services provided are for the benefit of the patient.
Activity 1:
Read the article on providing health care in Australia’s detention centres here:
- Can you identify ways in which health care professionals’ obligation to serve patients first can be compromised in off-shore detention centres?
- Why do you think this is happening?
- How do you think the health care professionals involved can continue to provide care in these centres without, at the same time, breaching the principle of beneficence?
Importantly,when ever health care professionals try to help some people they might risk harming them. For instance, administering medication unavoidably risks a patient experiencing varying degrees of side effects, whether in the short or long-term. As a result,the principles of beneficence and non-maleficence can, up to a point,be considered together with the aim of producing ‘net benefit over harm’ (Gillon, 1994). So, the risk of side effects of medication must be weighed against the likely benefits that the medication will provide to the patient. Of course, it is important to note that there are times when one principle clearly overrules the other; decisions to choose one principle over the other, however, need to be considered carefully.
The principle of non-maleficence, the requirement to avoid harm, is reflected in the law of negligence. Should a patient be harmed by the actions (or inactions) of a health care professional,the patient may be able to seek compensation through the civil courts. The courts require a plaintiff (the person who was harmed and is, as a result, taking legal action) to prove that the harm suffered is, in fact, due to the negligence of the professional (the defendant). To do this, the litigant must prove:
a) that the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff
b) that the appropriate standard of care has been breached
c) that as a result of the breach damage (harm) has been caused to the plaintiff and that the damage was not ‘too remote’ (that is, the harm suffered is directly related to the action or in actions of the defendant); and
d) that there are no defences (explanations) which wholly or partially excuse the professional’s negligent behaviour
(adapted from Kerridge et al, 2013, p. 138).
Activity 2:
(NB: the case study in this article applies to students of nursing but is highly relevant, also, to midwifery, paramedicine, and physiotherapy students) Click on the following link and read the article:
- How did the authors explain that the nursing student and facilitator owed Mrs Jones a duty of care?
- How did the authors define ‘appropriate standard of care’?
- How did they explain causation?
- How could the harm done to Mrs Jones been avoided?
- What would you do if you were a student on clinical placement and you were asked to transfer a disabled patient on your own? What if the patient asked you to do so?
Activity 3:
Click on the link below to Townsend, R. & Luck, M. (2015) Applied Paramedic Law and Ethics:
Australia and New Zealand. Available at: https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy1.acu.edu.au/lib/acu/reader.action?docID=1724010&ppg=144
- Read the case study on p. 131
- Do you think the paramedics breached the principle of non-maleficence?
- Do you think they were legally negligent? If so, why? If not, why not?
The principle of beneficence includes rules such as‘maximize possible benefits and minimize possible harms’ and ‘balance benefits against risks’.Within health care,the harms to be prevented,removed or minimized are the pain,suffering and disability of injury and disease. The range of benefits that might be considered relevant is broad,and could even include helping patients find appropriate forms of financial assistance or to gain access to health care (Beauchamp & Childress, 2013).
Activity 4:
Health care professionals are required to provide ‘appropriate’ treatment and care and, at the same time, be able to assure both the patient and the society in which they practice that the treatment/ care will not produce more harm than good (Kerridge et al, 2013).
- Consider this situation:
An oncology unit in an inner-city hospital is trialling a new chemotherapy regime for the treatment of what has been, up until now, a malignancy that is not curable. Generally, people who develop this particular malignancy die within 3 months of diagnosis. The oncology team believes that (based on the evidence) the new chemotherapy regime will be more effective; it might even extend patients’ lives by up to 6 months. However, the treatment has more debilitating side effects than what usually accompanies the administration of other chemotherapy treatments. Further, evidence suggests that disposal of the waste following treatment is thought to be even more harmful to the environment than other cytotoxic agents. - What would the principle of beneficence require of the health care professionals in this case?
- Are they doing more harm than good?
- What if, after receiving the necessary information concerning the treatment, patients wanted to receive this treatment?
The principles of beneficence and non-maleficence guide decision-making for health care professionals. That is, they assist professionals in making decisions about what they view to be in the patient’s interests or, to put it another way, what is best for the patient. However, while they are important, they are limited by yet another principle: that of respect for patient autonomy. You can turn now to consider that principle in Step 2 of this module.
In conclusion
In this module, you have considered the principle of beneficence which, for health care professionals, can be understood as the duty to act for the benefit of the patient. You also considered the principle of non-maleficence: the duty to avoid harming the patient. Taken together, these two Hippocratic principles inform health care decision-making such that the benefits of health care must be kept in a reasonable balance to the harms it may also bring
about, either directly to the patient or to the wider community.
Can You Do My Homework for Me?
YES, ⚡ Experience the brilliance of our essay writers from the US, UK, Canada, or Australia by entrusting us with your next essay.
NursingEssayHub.com is a distinguished ONLINE ESSAY WRITING AGENCY that specializes in offering expert writing help and assistance to students across all academic levels. With a team of highly skilled writers and editors boasting years of academic writing experience, we are fully equipped to guide you throughout the entire process, from selecting the perfect topic for your paper to completing a thorough literature review and delivering a well-formatted final draft.
ORDER A SIMILAR ESSAY WRITTEN FROM SCRATCH at : https://nursingessayhub.com/
