Ethical Issues in Healthcare - Essay Example

"Ethical Issues in Healthcare" is a remarkable example of a paper on medical ethics.
The individuals who usually do the activities that are not in their scope of practice should receive severe punishment. This is because their activities endanger the lives of the patients. Some of the patients have ended up with complications and some have lost their lives due to the activities of such individuals (Yeung & Horder, 2014).  The individuals are supposed to be deregistered by the relevant bodies in order to ensure that they never practised.  This is important in ensuring that the risk that they pose to the patients is eliminated.  On the other hand, it is also important to note that most of the patients are not aware that individuals are not qualified to offer such services. This means that the individuals are violating the codes of practice. The criminal proceeding should also be opened for such individuals in order to ensure that they are prosecuted.  However, this should be carried out depending on the nature of the harm that they expose to the patients.  It is also important to ensure that the individuals are fired from their positions with immediate effect.  The strict punishments will play an important role in deterring individuals from engaging in such unethical acts.

I witnessed someone doing something outside their scope of practice; I will take action against them. The first action will be to report the incident to the management of the hospital. The reaction of the management of the hospital will be important in determining whether or not they condone such practices.  The next action will involve reporting the individuals to the relevant medical bodies for investigations and action. This is considering that the medical bodies have the powers of regulating the medical profession and take taking action against the healthcare workers who endanger the lives of the patients.  This will play an essential role in ensuring that the individuals are punished accordingly.  The medical bodies will also be in a position to determine the risks that the activities pose to the patients.  This is considering that there could be exceptions for the individuals carrying out the activities outside their scope of practice (Pirie, 2012).  Reporting the individuals will also play an essential role in ensuring that the corrective action is taken and the patients referred to the right professionals for the required action.

 In some situation, a person is justified in doing something outside their scope of practice. When a patient is in a critical condition and the required professional is not around, it is justified for a person to do something outside their scope of the profession. However, the patient or the person who brought the patient should be informed.  The main purpose of the activity should be to save the life of the patient and not for commercial purposes.  In some instance, a healthcare professional may be forced to do something out of their scope of practice in an emergency situation in order to stabilize the conditions of the patient as they await the medical treatment from the professional.  In such a situation the healthcare workers should be exempted from any wrongdoing as their actions are for the purposes of benefiting the patients. It is the duty of the healthcare workers to save the lives of the patients brought to them (Blackmer, 2011).