Ethical Behavior in Health Care Annotated Bibliography
Ethical Behavior in health care. Why do the patients engage in a suicide attempt, and how should the issue be handled ethically by the nursing practitioner?
Li, X., Minami, H., & Bryant, R. (2015). The patient suicide attempt; an ethical dilemma case study. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 408-413. doi:doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnss.2015.01.013 Retrieved from https://www.journals.elsevier.com/international-journal-of-nursing-sciences/. Ethical Behavior in Health Care Annotated Bibliography.
The article discusses a situation where nurses must make an ethical decision. The case involves a 57-year-old patient by the name Mr. Green who is suffering from aggressive prostate cancer which has metastasized to the bones, as well as other parts of the body. The situation compels the patient to contemplate suicide, and heconfides to one of the nurses, asking them to be discreet about the matter
An ethical dilemma arises when a moral challenge involving two or more mutually exclusive ethically correct actions are presented. The policies of the hospital regarding disclosure of information are well defined. In as much as the nurse has the discretion to remain quiet, there are chances that the lack of disclosure could worsen the situation. The consequentialist and utilitarianism theories apply to this case in dealing with the ethical dilemma. From the theories and in relation to the situation, the action of disclosing this information about the patient with other specialists fit the ethical contemplation of non-maleficence as well as beneficence principle.
Gillett, G., & Chamberlain, J. (2013). The clinician’s dilemma: Two dimensions of ethical care. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry,36(5-6), 454-460. Retrieved October 25, 2017, from http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/science/article/pii/S016025271300071X?_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_origin=gateway&_docanchor=&md5=b8429449ccfc9c30159a5f9aeaa92ffb&ccp=y . Ethical Behavior in Health Care Annotated Bibliography.
In this article two psychiatrists argued the reasons that they believe psychiatrists needs to be able to prescribe euthanasia and be able to partake in physician assisted suicides. They provided valuable arguments as to why a change in law may need to happen in order for this physician assisted suicided by a psychiatrist to be approved. But they also agreed that some patients suicidal attempts can be just a cry for help and as psychiatrist they need to know how to decipher the two.
Jobes, D. A., Rudd, M. D., Overholser, J. C., & Joiner Jr, T. E. (2008). Ethical and competent care of suicidal patients: Contemporary challenges, new developments, and considerations for clinical practice. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 39(4), 405. Ethical Behavior in Health Care Annotated Bibliography.
The article was intended to increase awareness concerning different suicide-related ethical issues. Raising the awareness was all in the hope that psychologists would enhance their medical practices when dealing with suicidal patients, therefore serving to save lives. With the rise of suicidal cases for clinicians, there is a need to develop a mechanism of taking care of the patients ethically. One of the challenges faced by the psychologist’s inability to predict the behaviors of their clients which is shown in the case involving a nineteen-year-old teen who had tried committing suicide on a number of occasions and finally did it even under the watch of a psychologist.
Clinical challenges which are presented by suicidal patients can be handled efficiently from the start through the use of thorough informed consent. With adequate risk assessment, a psychologist is in a better position to predict the potential for suicidal behavior since there are “proximate suicide warning signs.” In these situations, professional competence is quite fundamental when dealing with suicidal patients. In as much as it may not be possible to prevent suicides by patients, competence of the psychologist plays a key role in reducing such instances in their profession.
Kleespies, P. M., Hughes, D. H., &Gallacher, F. P. (2000). Suicide in the medically and terminally ill: Pychological and ethical considerations. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 56(9), 1153-1171Retrieved from https://http://sites.umuc.edu/library/index.cfm. Ethical Behavior in Health Care Annotated Bibliography.
The article in the journal presents an assessment of the relationship between suicide and medical illness. Suicide tendenciesre more likely to people suffering from illnesses such as HIV/AIDS, sclerosis and cancer among others. The article looks into various cases that show the association of some of these terminal illnesses to the probability of an individual committing suicide. However, the elevation of likelihood to commit suicide depends on the disease. Illnesses that are affecting the brain are some of those that can push an individual to contemplate committing suicide. Prevention of suicide for the people undergoing illnesses such as cancer of the brain requires educational programs especially focused on these patients.
The question or ethical arises in caseshen a patient refuses to use life-sustaining treatment and to whether that choice amounts to committing suicide. Since suicide is defined as one’s willful intention to end life, then it can only mean that the act of avoiding a life-sustaining treatment may be considered as suicide on the same understanding. Euthanasia has been a controversial issue in the medical field, and while some oppose it, proponents are of the view that it relieves pain. The principle of double effect takes center stage when it comes to using other means if a patient does not subscribe to life-sustaining treatment. The concept of rational suicide does not mean that the nursing or health practitioners have the absolute authority even to conduct assisted suicide.
Petrillo, L. A., Dzeng, E., Harrison, K. L., Forbes, L., Scribner, B., & Koenig, B. A. (2017). How California Prepared for Implementation of Physician-Assisted Death: A Primer. American Journal of Public Health, 107(6), 883-888. Ethical Behavior in Health Care Annotated Bibliography.
The article looks into the law in California which allows physician-assisted death and how it is supposed to be conducted. It is expected that legal physician-assisted death will have effects of cultural and socioeconomic aspects for California’s diverse population, as well as for patients from susceptible groups. In the year 2015, 0.4% of the deaths were conducted in line with physician-assisted death (PAD). However, the law raises some issues on the ethical dimension from which it is practiced. Request by some patients request for physician-assisted death may be as a result of unmet needs or other issues which might be solved through alternative means. There should be policies or mechanisms of dealing with PAD especially when it comes to prescribing the drugs to be used in practice.
The argument against the law is that physician-assisted deaths tend to devalue the sanctity of human life through the health care system. A number of questions still hang in the balance regarding the same issue such as the kind of drugs to be used, whether health care worker ought to be present when the patient is ingesting the drugs among others. However, the provision of the healthcare worker to choose whether to be present or not is accorded in the law. Such legal Acts concerning deaths of patients present another ethical issue that needs broader deliberation.
Zohar, N. J. (2003). Co‐operation despite disagreement: from politics to healthcare. Bioethics, 17(2), 121-141. Ethical Behavior in Health Care Annotated Bibliography.
The article “Co‐operation Despite Disagreement” involves a situation where an individual may assume another person’s moral standing in place of theirs. This move is determined or influenced by some factors, but most importantly it requires persuasion through the presentation of facts or information. Politics requires that individuals should co-operate, regardless of their opposing views to policies, while in the medical field, “cooperation with evil” is discouraged. As one of the controversial issues, abortion is regarded as a wrong mainly on the moral ground rather than basing the argument on the legal framework. An instance where a medical doctor performs an operation to remove kidney of a critically ill patient to save the life of another person is one of the issues that call for consensus despite the different reasons why it should or should not be conducted.
“Co‐operation Despite Disagreement”, therefore, means that a person or part will forego their stand or compromise their integrity in order to progress. The theory of state neutrality supports the arguments where states choose not to interfere with matters such as religion but leave some things to the conscience of the citizens. Legitimate disagreements also apply to the field of medicine, especially during the doctor-patient interaction. For example, when it comes to action, assistance and complicity, a patient may request a doctor to assist them in committing suicide for a justified reason in relation to a situation. The prescription of a lethal drug to the patient means that the doctor does not perform the action directly but allows the patient to do it and that does not constitute killing. For this reason, it is valid to say that a nurse or health practitioner’s decision pertaining suicide and suicide attempts is largely informed by the specific circumstance of the situation.