Law and Ethics in Healthcare - Essay Example

Critical reflection Law and ethics in healthcare is a very critical topic just as it is in other dimensions of life. Law in health care refers to the set regulations, rules and jurisprudence that entails a wide range of legal concerns like contracts, antitrust, patient rights, bioethical policy, medical malpractice and licensure that nurses, physicians, health maintenance organizations and health systems need to adhere to. The course involving health care law involves a study of the quality of, financing and access to proper health care. Ethics in health care on the other hand refers to the study of judgments and moral values which apply to the health care system. There are six values that are common in the medical field. They include autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence, dignity, honesty and truthfulness and justice. These values are very important in the health care scenario because they are used as framework for understanding conflicts that occur within the organization. Prior to this unit, my perception about law and ethics was that it is a very complicated topic that deals with issues like how cases are dealt with and how individuals are subjected to punishments if they do not follow some set values or laws. My scope was narrower than what I got in this subject. I was not sure whether moral ethics that are applicable to the every day living are also applicable in the health care profession. My notion was that I will get totally different issues of law and ethics that what I already had learnt about in life. My first encounter with this unit was however very strange to me, the many case which were involved during my study made me understand better about the subject and soon I got acquainted with the entire course content (Beauchamp 2007, pp. 8). I feel that the study of ethics and law in health care is a very fundamental step because it guides one on the magnitude, universality and complexity of the entire health care system. The study of law and ethics in health care guides one into understanding the problems which are often confronted in this field. It is also imperative that the changes that often occur in the medical field directly affect not only what we do as human beings, but it also affects how we think about being human. This implies that we all have rights and obligations that should also be observed in the health care profession. With the increase in issues of safety and public health in the world today, the importance of ethics and law in health care in protecting the safety and health of human beings becomes a central theme. Angela in the introductory video confirmed the fear that I also had about the issue of law and ethics in the health care system. Her view if the law and ethical system as complicated and having no relationship with the normal tasks that we do everyday confirmed to me that many people have the same perception of this when they are first getting into this field. Through the message in this video, I was able to know that the subject is more involving and full of scenarios that require proper decision making and boldness. I had never thought of instances of injecting stuff to a patient that will be harmful and even lead to death. Although her introductory was scaring at the first instance, I was able to understand that this is the nature of the career and therefore I need to take it in a positive way. I agree with the views and desires that Angela expressed in this introductory video. Indeed the health care system is full of controversial decisions that each health care nurse or physician gives so that at the end of the day the patient might be in danger because a wrong medicine is administered to him or her. Her idea of having an ethical toolbox so as to help solve every situation that comes along is of benefit according to me (Beauchamp 2007, pp. 8). I feel that the patient is a very important person in the nursing filed and therefore he or she needs to be treated with a lot of care. Although there are cases where a nurse needs to give a necessary euthanasia, it is important that a certain law should govern when and how this should be done. In some cases a patient may require that his or her life be terminated because he feels he or she might not get the right medication. In such situations, law should be followed so that the right solution to this issue will be reached at. Another reason why I feel the idea that Angela demonstrated in this introductory video needs a toolbox is to avoid the unnecessary use of narcotics in the healthcare environment. The morphine, for instance so as make the patient express some form of pain is a subject of committing murder rather than aiding the patient come out of this situation. Giving patients narcotics just because they are unconscious and expecting them to show that they feel some pain is not very ethical in the health care field. The aspect that every nurse is feeling right about their stand is also an issue that needs clear analysis and care because with such a notion a patient can be in danger of a wrong dose of drugs given. The case studies that I went through in the modules made it easy for me to apply theory. The reason why I found it easy is because of the introduction that I had been given about the general overview about the entire law and ethical system in health care. Most of the cases implied breach of the common morals that guide the everyday living of people in the society. The most fundamental theme which revolved around these cases was professionalism and commitment, an issue which is common even when handling issues in other dimensions of life. Most cases lacked the clear and proper following of professional proficiency which is often obtained through a long process of training and consideration of proper entry requirements, periodic review of the discipline and oversight of other disciplinary bodies. I also found it easy to relate theory with the cases I studied because most of them lacked moral justifications as to their occurrences. It was very easy for me to identify that the individuals involved in the case were really guilty because their stand lacked evidence of sound decision making. Determining whether our actions are lawful or not is often guided by appeals to role models, codes, paradigm cases and rules. Most of the case that were exhibited lacked these appeals. It was easy for me to relate them to theory because most of the situations presented led to ambiguous situations. Disagreements and conflicts in such cases therefore were bound to occur between the patient, parents of the patients and the nurses. Justifying the beliefs was therefore very fundamental in such situations (Staunton & Chiarella 2008, pp 179). After going through the modules given and the cases which were exhibited, my opinion was that the health care profession is a very volatile and therefore it needs proper training and use of proper entry requirements foe every nurse so that their will be few cases of breaching of the laws in place. In my opinion, the issues of law and ethics should be the leading area of specialization when training the nurse to work in the field. Nurses and other health care professionals should exercise professionalism which involves commitment to proficiency. This implies that they need to understand that there is need for them to be aware of what to do during diverse events, be open in every issue especially issues which involve the child and the parent and understand that they owe the patient a duty of care. The consequence of negligence should guide every nurse so that they administer their duty well and avoid such cases which may lead the patient to extreme situations like death. The use of audio visual materials influenced my thinking in these respects because I was able to not only read the consequence of not following the codes of ethics stipulated for every nurse but to also look at the consequences though a visual way. The audio visual media made me feel the urgency of the matter surrounding the health care scenario and thus act in an appropriate manner. My focus when analyzing the case studies was with the individual. This is because every nurse and health care professional is supposed to administer the treatment to a patient in the best way that he or she understands. He or she is supposed to act rationally and provide a sound judgment over an issue. The reason why this is to be individual basis is that when making judgments, the court often considers the whole group liable for the action yet one party of the group may have not contributed a lot. The issue of corporate treatment should not be the case because through it, a wrong administration of drugs to the patient is made. This is because many ideas conflict and create disagreements within the treatment decision making process and eventually leading to improper treatment of the patient with the notion that the senior management is the decision maker and their decisions is final (Coulehan 2007, pp 210). My perception did not change over time because of the many cases that were presented had a sense of a particular person following the ideas that another person has given. In fact many of the cases involved many getting involved in an act they had to follow the decision of the other. Logically speaking, a group cannot be liable for a certain act unless each of the parties in the group decided to assume duty of care. My thoughts on negotiation were affected in a negative way by the cases in this module. Negotiation refers to the process whereby individuals agree mutually on a certain issue and perform it with the mind that they have made proper decisions. A negotiation occurs when the point in which parties agree is neutral i.e. mo one is left with questions of whether the action is correct or not. Many of the case I went through however, did not indicate a scenario of negotiation because many or the professional health care providers followed some other persons decisions falsely. Bibliography Beauchamp, T. L. 2007, ‘The “four principles” approach to health care ethics’ in R. E. Ashcroft, A. Dawson, H. Draper & J. R. McMillan (eds.) Principles of Healthcare Ethics, 2nd edn, Wiley, Chichester, pp. 3 – 10. Coulehan, J., 2007, ‘Dying with dignity: The story reveals its meaning,’ in J. Malpas & N. Lickiss (eds.) Perspectives on Human Dignity, Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 209 – 223. ‘Code of Professional Conduct for Nurses in Australia’, retrieved on 21st, Jan 2008 from ‘Code of Ethics for Nurses in Australia’, retrieved on 21st, Jan 2008 from ‘Competency Standards for the Registered Nurse in Australia’, retrieved on 21st, Jan 2008 from Johnstone, M-J. 2008, Bioethics: A Nursing Perspective, 5th edn., Elsevier, Sydney, pp.125 – 134. Kerridge, I., Lowe, M. & McPhee, J. 2005, Ethics and Law for the Health Professional, 2nd edn., Federation Press, Sydney, pp. 134 – 156. ‘Nursing practice decisions summary guide’, retrieved on 21st, Jan 2008 from Staunton, P. & Chiarella, M. 2008, Nursing and the Law, 6th edn., Elsevier, Sydney, pp. 175 – 187. Read More