In addition, obese patients use more hospital resources because they stay longer in wards, though this can be attributed to delays experienced while obtaining specialist equipment to help obese patients cope when they have been discharged (Adler and Newman, 2010, p.15). In addition, obese patients may receive suboptimal treatment and medical personnel attending to the patient may sustain injury when attempting to mobilize obese or overweight patients. A paper from the Australia published in 2012 highlighted patient safety incidents that are associated with overweight or obesity (Kuriyama, 2009, p.26). Beneficence is an underlying principle in all healthcare, medicine and research (Kelly, Yang, Chen et al, 2012, p.18). Both nurses and doctors in Australia are guided by the Hippocratic Oath, which states: ‘ any medical practitioner is required to use treatment to help a patient according to his/her judgment and ability, but never with an intention for wrongdoing and causing injury to the patient (Must, Spadino and Coakley et al , 2013, p.24). At same time, nurses are required to adhere to the Code of Professional Conduct which states that nurses must act in a manner that promote and safeguard the well-being of patient (Kelly, Yang, Chen et al, 2012, p.19). Both nurses and physicians are required to do their best while providing medical care to a patient?
If we continue down the road that every hospital in Australia must accommodate the medical needs of every obese or overweight patient then it means every healthcare facility in the country will be required to purchase MRI scanners and CT scanners to accommodate patients of all weights . In addition to these requirements, all hospitals will be required to maintain additional set of beds, bathroom fixtures, commodes, blood pressure cuffs, and a plethora of other utilities or equipments that will be solely used to treat overweight or obese patients.
This will be expensive to hospitals across Australia in term of workforce and resources that has been allocated in those hospitals (Andrews 2012, p.25). For example, a healthcare facility can transfer a bariatric patient if they don’t have a bariatric surgeon. Shouldn’t they also be able to transfer trauma patients if they don’t have trauma specialist. Rising costs of caring for obese patients results in increased costs for everybody (Allender and Rayner, 2009, p.32). Even the most basic medical management can be made difficult by overweigh by obesity.
Obese or overweight patients have been found to be at increased risk for numerous medical problems, and this can affect surgical outcome (Kuriyama, 2009, p.34). Therefore, hospitals across Australia are right to ask every obese patient to lose weight before they can be listed for surgery. There is “strong clinical evidence” that obese or overweight surgical patients have a higher risk of complications. These include infections, breathing problems and longer recovery times (Dietz, 2009, p.15). For example, for an obese patient planning to have a knee replacement surgery, the patient will be doing himself or herself a big favor by losing weight two months before the surgery is performed because by so doing they will reduce the risk of post surgery complications that are associated with obesity .
A report published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (Oct. 2012) states that overweight or obese patients are found to be at higher risk of complication following total knee replacement procedure such as infections ((Kuriyama, 2009, p.35). With the Non-maleficence principle, physicians or nurses are required to refrain from providing ineffective medical treatment. This principle cannot be applied in the treatment of obese or overweight patient since many beneficial health services in obese patient have serious risks.
But the pertinent ethical issue when dealing with an obese patient is whether the benefits will outweigh the burdens (Kuriyama, 2009, p.34). The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (Oct.
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