Roles of Various Professionals That Concern Health Care Industry - Essay Example

The case of Ivy, an elderly woman who develops dementia Contents Contents 2 Introduction 4 Learning Outcomes 5 Govt. Policies with reference to interprofessional Working 6 The “Parental Mental health and Child Welfare Network” 6 Europeam MA Program ‘Migration, mental health and social care 7 Other Programs 7 Legal implications 8 Mrs. IVY had to wait for a long time before she could avail her social service Benefits? 8 Ethical Implications 9 Mrs. Ivy’s Son or Daugher Could have had her Stay with either one of them! 9 Chief Ethical Issues 10 Inter - professional Working 11 “Combined Universities Interprofessional Learning UNIT” 11 Ivy’s care in the community prior to admission to hospital 12 Interprofessional working in the above case 13 Individual Contributions 13 Team Work 15 The Lack of responsibility 17 How the team should’ve co-operated 18 Communication 19 Nurses COntribution 20 Cultural Competence 20 COnclusion 21 Works Cited 22 Bibliography 24 Introduction Elderly residents of Britain face a lot of problem while acquiring and obtaining various health care needs that they entail. This is due to many factors, for example, they are too old to keep meeting and contacting various health care professionals, etc. (Schofield, 2000) A paramount reason for choosing this particular Case Study is that it is a very general problem faced by almost all the elderly residents of Britain and even though the government has commenced and promoted several schemes to help the aged populous of the country, they are not able to keep an eye on the all the victims that have any sort of a medical condition. Any illness or medical condition always worsens with the advancement of age, and thus it is very necessary that the patients should be given proper treatment as and when the time is abundant. But while looking at the case study of Mrs. Ivy, it is hard not to notice the negligence of various authorities and the mention of lexis such as “waiting list” and “Social services would not get involved without proper…” Selfishness is really a very amazing temperament of a human being – My point being, since Mrs. Ivy needed tremendous care and a supervisory body while she developed her Dementia, her daughter should have let Mrs. Ivy stay at her home rather than looking for a flat or government’s care centers. And there is not a mention of what her son did for her after the part that “he lives far away”. A person can not always expect the government to stand by their ‘parent’s’ side at their time of need. After all, it is logical to say, that the government can not possibly cater all the dying people. We as humans should also realize our responsibility and thus her children should have favored her to stay with either one of them. Learning Outcomes The following are the expected learning outcomes from this assignment: Comprehend the role of professionals dealing with health care industry. Ability to make abrupt decisions. Manage the overall Patient experience. Learn about various Legal issues present and created for the health care industry. Govt. Policies with reference to interprofessional Working The government of Britain has set up various trusts and policies to help the elderly (particularly with mental problems such as Alzheimer, Dementia, etc. Some of the current active policies are as follows: The “Parental Mental health and Child Welfare Network” (Davis, Tisdall, Tisdall, Prout, & Hill, 2006) The “Parental Mental Health and Child Welfare Network” basically exists to help the mentally disabled elders and their children. As Mr. Tisdall notes in his book “Children, Young people and social inclusion: Participation for What?” (2006), the chief motive behind this policy states that it is really hard for children of mentally disabled parents to cope up with their parents, economic conditions and personal lives. Therefore, the government has set up this program to help the mentally disabled parents of such children to pass along the troubled times. How does this policy do that? Simple, all they do is work along with several health care, children of the mentally disabled parents and socially active representatives to comfort their lives. Europeam MA Program ‘Migration, mental health and social care (Ingleby, 2005) This program by the government is basically focused on health related issues of asylums, refugees, minorities, and blacks. One of the coordinators of the book by Mr. Ingleby (2005) was also a coordinator at the Migration, Mental health and social care program in the U.K. The program is mostly concerned with the mental health conditions of the above mentioned population in Britain. Other Programs (Intute, 2007) Edinburgh Mental health Research network. Centre for community Mental Health. Centre for citizenship and community and Mental Health. And many more… Legal implications Mrs. IVY had to wait for a long time before she could avail her social service Benefits? In the case study of Mrs. Ivy, her daughter mentions that initially the social service representatives had requested for a GP, and it was also harshly said that until they get a referral from the GP “the social services won’t get involved”. So after eventually doing what Mrs. Ivy’s daughter was told to do, she contacted the GP again and they arranged a psychiatrist and a psychologist to visit Mrs. Ivy, this was the time when she was diagnosed with “some form of dementia”. Soon after submitting the GP she realized that Mrs. Ivy had been put on a waiting list and then looking at the deteriorating condition of her mother had to contact a branch of the local Alzheimer’s Society. Implication The legal allegation broken here was through the recently amended Social Services Act (recently amended in 2002). Since the amendments made in the Social Services Act (Socialstyrelsen, 2002), the victim now has a much greater right to appeal in front of the Social service representative for a quick decision. This right was not used by Mrs. Ivy’s daughter. In the whole case study, it was never mentioned that the waiting by social services had been cleared, not until the time Mrs. Ivy died. So… How’s this correct or even moral? It is very clear that the social services were not supervising the situation clearly, because doctors could have slowed down the progress of diseases like Alzheimer if it had been detected at the right time. Secondly, neither was any action taken from the regulatory authorities that regulate or supervise social services. Ethical Implications Mrs. Ivy’s Son or Daugher Could have had her Stay with either one of them! Mrs. Ivy was suffering from a worsening mental problem and thus it is clear that she should have had someone to take care for her all the time. This was a much larger ethical implication than just letting her die. Instead of thinking “Should we force fully feed her or not?” The doctors, nurses, and primarily her family members should have thought “What is the reason she wants to die?”. Based on personal opinion, the following are some reasons why she let ‘give it all up’ come to her attention: No one cares for her! Cause if they did, the kids would have let Mrs. Ivy stay with them at their home. The people (staff, nurses, etc.) at the hospital “laughed” at her. She is physically very fit and doesn’t see the need to stay in a hospital. That is, she hates the idea of staying in an intensive care ward. First the trauma of losing her husband, and now this. She thought that the ‘end is near’. She has practically lived a perfect and a healthy life for all the 84 years and she never needed any one of them, and even now, she doesn’t want to be dependent on anybody. All of the above mentioned reasons revolve around a central theme and that theme is: No one cares for her; even her family doesn’t support her as much as she did for them. And since no one is there for her at her time of need, it is just impossible to survive without the help of others. Chief Ethical Issues Respect for autonomy: Although, we will take a major factor under consideration here, that the patient was suffering from dementia and was not capable of making her own decisions, but the related authorities have to understand that she may be suffering from a temporary phase of depression and that she might be emotionally capable enough to at least make some basic decisions. But you have to admit, the authorities did manage to follow one decision of Ivy with immediate effect and that was her own suicide attempt, which shows the immorality of the case. Justice: Even though Ivy got what she wanted, it still doesn’t feel ok that nurses and specially doctors could support such a obtuse decision. The decision was in no way justified. Beneficence: The Beneficence principal is probably the most important ethical principal of all and it was clearly broken in Ivy’s particular case. Not only do the staff (nurses & doctors) make the sick decision of “letting her go”, they also claim that Ivy was a great woman. If they really believed that, they wouldn’t have made such a harsh decision. Non – Malfeasance: The report about Ivy does not state any such broken implication based on this principle, although, I guess providing any personal single sided opinion in total favor of Ivy would be quite wrong, but if given an opportunity, I would’ve asked for any financial implications that might be hurdles, because considering the case that the social services were not responding one might take that factor under consideration strongly. Inter - professional Working “Combined Universities Interprofessional Learning UNIT” (Gordon & Marshall, 2006) The CUILU is a project that was initiated to facilitate a deeper learning on the topic of Inter - professional working. This project was funded completely by the Department of health, and was formed by two renowned universities in Sheffield, the Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Sheffield. This was one of the many projects that were launched with the government’s help to facilitate the learning of inter – professional working and training on the subject. Ivy’s care in the community prior to admission to hospital Thus we will be talking about how active or how ignored was the community towards Mrs. Ivy before her admission to the hospital. The only responsible authorities amongst Mrs. Ivy’s communities were the shop owner who informed Ivy’s daughter of her mother’s irresponsive behaviour, the lady across the street who also informed Ivy’s daughter of her mother’s irresponsive behavior and finally the Alzheimer’s Society, who gave a hope to Ivy by letting her join the community and learn more about her disease. In this Case Study, the participants of the ignorant section of Ivy’s community are: Primarily, the social services, for neglecting such a deteriorating case, secondly, the nurses, who apparently “laughed” at Ivy’s condition, and the rest of the crew include the doctors, for even suggesting such a thing as “just let her go”, and her family members for supporting this drastic decision. Who in their right mind would even think of making such a decision, even I (as a student) have a better solution to such a problem, and its simple too, ‘just call a psychiatrist and a psychologist’ and let him / her (the psychiatrist or psychologist) try to comfort Ivy, after all, these people can cure even the worst cases of depression with ease. And this case is no worse, Ivy was just suffering from a general depression phase (along with Alzheimer), she has all the symptoms of depression: uneasiness, tiredness, feel like they need freedom from life, and the most appealing of them all she used to draw “fierce creatures” during her drawing class. Letting her die was a decision, which has made me believe that no one in her family wanted her to live, because if they did they would have tried to find a better solution. Interprofessional working in the above case Individual Contributions The following were supposed to be the roles of the various parties involved from the first step to the last: The Bereavement Counsellor was arranged and he helped Ivy to go to a Local day Centre for 4 days per week, so as to keep her socially active and to get her off of the trauma of her Husband’s death. And once you read this report further, you will notice that so far the bereavement counsellor was the best help that Ivy had. Ivy’s daughter (non professional), noticed some change in her behavior, and even though she acted immediately, she wasn’t able to generate any solution for her problems as she received rejections from everywhere. So we may also consider that even Ivy’s daughter had been traumatized at her mother’s situation and decided to “let her go”. But as we do not know much about Ivy’s daughter (What does she do?, how good is her relationship with her husband and the general nature of her husband?, or can she afford to keep Ivy with her without any financial or family related feuds?), thus we have been left perplexed by the lack of data, and therefore we have reached to the conclusion that although Ivy’s daughter did work hard but not smart enough, cause if she had done that, maybe Ivy would have been alive right now and have possibly written a book about the “almost” final days of her life, instead of a 2 page report. Staff and nurses at Day care Centre helped Ivy dress herself properly, etc. and were also very good to her which made her realize that she still has something to live for, gave her a social life, and tried to keep her husband’s memories away from her. Besides, the people (nurses) at day care centre were much more helpful and kinder towards Ivy as compared to the behavior of the Social Services. (Please also view the further section “Nurses Contribution” of this report) Ivy’s General practitioner: A real professional and fast decisive man, complied with every request by ivy’s daughter who was also her spokesperson as Ivy was suffering from a mental illness. But the GP had not fulfilled his responsibilities to the fullest, he / she should’ve informed Ivy’s daughter about any possible actions that she could take against the Social Services or the scenario when they just let her die. This man could’ve probably saved her life, but didn’t. So he is also declared to be at fault. Social Service staff that rejected Ivy’s daughter’s proposal to get involved until she got a reference from the GP. And even after they got a GP’s reference, they were told to wait in a queue. This was the most irresponsible behaviour expected from the SS’s. Not only did they failed to comply with the Social Services Act, but had failed to realize the criticalness of the situation (the age of Ivy, her disease, etc.) Staff at Local Residential Home: Gave Ivy a new hope, by letting her do several chores, and Ivy was assumed to be quite active as she was always trying to help the carers, and was also said to dance at music often. Staff at Alzheimer’s Society: The Alzheimer’s society was very helpful in terms of providing Ivy’s daughter a list of all the residential homes that could’ve been perfect for her. And by doing that, have quite fulfilled their responsibilities. Nurses at hospital: Please refer to the “Nurses Contribution” section of this report. Doctors at Hospital: The doctors are considered to be at a huge fault as they are the ones who supported the decision to “let her go”. Doctors are supposed to be saving lives and not letting their patients commit suicide. None of the ethical implications were followed by the doctors, secondly, doctors are supposed to be the most important factor while considering any patient’s cure, and therefore, the doctors were at major fault. Psychiatrist & Psychologist: At the point of time when Ivy had given up al hope of life and felt like a burden on everyone, instead of letting the above authorities make the drastic decision about her life / death, her daughter should’ve hired some professional psychologists who could’ve helped her come over her dementia and possibly depression. Team Work The following figure illustrates the way the current participant’s of Ivy’s case had worked. Below the chart is our section “Lack of responsibility”, which will clarify the way the team should’ve worked. Fig. TEAM WORK 1 The Lack of responsibility As you may notice that most of the responsible authorities for Ivy’s Health care needs have done their jobs correctly (In the above figure, blue = well done, green = irresponsible behaviour). The most irresponsible inter - professional behaviour was noticed on the side of the Social Service staff, instead of just rejecting Ivy’s file, they should have arranged a GP on their own and got her tested, besides she didn’t need a GP, she needed a neurologist and psychologist. But even after they got Ivy tested from a GP, the social services eventually put her on a “waiting list”. My point being, Ivy’s already 84 years old, that’s past the average age limit, how much more time does she have left? No one knows and therefore she needed immediate care, which she didn’t get and suffered from depression, Ivy’s daughter should sue the social services for neglecting the recent amendments in the Social Service Act. The Lack of responsibility was also conducted on behalf of the nurses, who apparently “laughed at Ivy” and the doctors for not even trying to save her and get her out of the trauma. How the team should’ve co-operated It was very clear by the symptoms that Ivy was suffering from some old – aged “forgetfulness” disease (generally related to dementia, Alzheimer’s, etc.), so the first step by Ivy’s daughter to contact the GP was correct, but the GP’s tests shown nothing wrong, and the GP just tells them everything’s normal, instead the GP should’ve immediately referenced a psychiatrist who could’ve taken care of Ivy in a better manner. But later on they did that and diagnosed Ivy with dementia. Any patient suffering from dementia should not be taken lightly as she is never in her own senses, and thus is liable to make childish decisions, (like the one Ivy made), and under some cases pay for it with their lives. Primarily the social services should not have put her in a queue and should’ve complied immediately with her daughter’s request so that Ivy could’ve still been helping other people thereby making her living useful. The middle process involving the old age home & Alzheimer’s society should’ve never appeared. Ivy was supposed to be directly admitted to a hospital and most probably cured. Communication Some of the factors that might influence my decision to how to regulate the talk with Ivy’s children and doctors pertaining to whether to feed Ivy or not would be: Her (Ivy’s) mental state of mind. Her Family’s fiscal condition. Her bearing capacity. Her physical condition. Her willingness to eat. And finally, would the food be able to keep her alive or does she have other problems such as her mental health and the trauma, if she has a good chance of dying from these reasons, then it might be OK to let her go. We have to critically analyze her psychological condition before making any decision, as Ivy’s daughter had stated that Ivy’s mental condition has been constantly deteriorating, there is a huge chance that Ivy was not in a condition to decide important matters about her physical well being and life. Ivy’s statement “They are all laughing at me” was totally childish and clarifies and testifies that she was not in her proper senses and therefore, it is logical to say that she was mad. And if a mad man wants to commit suicide, the doctors are not supposed to follow her decision, because she is mad and that is the reason she ended up in the hospital in the first place. This should have been clarified to the doctors and her family that Ivy is not in a stable situation and therefore asking her what to do or following any of her advice will only prove the lack of skill and practice with the doctor. If she is not eating, force glucose inside her body through syringe, but she must get cured. Nurses COntribution “They laugh at me” could possibly be the worst complaint that any client files for his / her nurses. Nurses are supposed to be compassionate about the patient’s health care needs and problems, not to forget hey should be attentive as well as trained for emergency scenarios. The least a nurse could do for the patent is to try and provide her comfort regarding her sickness and try to explain her that we have a cure for that and that Ivy will be perfectly fine within a matter of days. The Health care industry pity’s the hospitals that have such nurses that apparently laugh at the patient’s situations. Once the nurse has got to know the patient better, she must be allowed to participate in all sorts of decisions made regarding the patients, but apparently the nurses of the designated hospital were not qualified enough (Because of their ignorant behaviour). Cultural Competence It is extremely necessary for the nurses to have cultural competence training. Their exist several different kind of people, with different thought process, right & wrong judgements, different colour, etc. so the nurse must be able to talk to them in their own psychology. This will not only prove to be a much more effective way of treatment but will also increase the Will power of the patient, by letting him / her know that some one cares about them. Health COnclusion Within this report we have drawn some arguments in support and against for all of the parties involved, for example, “A person can not always expect the government to stand by their ‘parent’s’ side at their time of need. After all, it is logical to say, that the government can not possibly cater all the dying people.”, is an argument in support of the government and against the family members of Ivy; whereas, in the sentence “In the whole case study, it was never mentioned that the waiting by social services had been cleared, not until the time Mrs. Ivy died.”, we have favored to go against the social services run by the government. Inter - professional relations play a very important role in the health care industry. This is an industry where the arguments and decisions of many partakers occur, and therefore it is very necessary that this should be taken seriously. (Hewison, 2004) The largest example right now is Ivy’s case, if she would have had even half of all the professionals making the right decision, she might still be living. Works Cited Davis, J. M., Tisdall, E. K., Tisdall, K., Prout, A., & Hill, M. (2006). Children, Young People and Social Inclusion: Participation for What? Bristol: The Policy Press. Gordon, F., & Marshall, M. (2006). Combined Universities Interprofessional Learning Unit: Final Report. Sheffield: Sheffield Hallam University Press. Hewison, A. (2004). Management for Nurses and Health Professionals: Theory Into Practice . Malden: Blackwell Publishing. Ingleby, D. (2005). Forced Migration and Mental Health: Rethinking the Care of Refugees and Displaced Persons (International and Cultural Psychology). New York: Springer. Intute. (2007, January 04). Intute Social Sciences. Retrieved April 23, 2008, from Intute - The best web resources for education and research: http://www.intute.ac.uk/socialsciences/cgi-bin/search.pl?term1=interprofessional&subject=socialsciences Schofield, I. (2000). Healthy Ageing: Nursing Older People . New York: Elsevier Health Sciences. Socialstyrelsen. (2002, January 25). The Social Service Act. Retrieved April 24, 2008, from Sos.se: http://www.sos.se/fulltext/114/2002-114-9/2002-114-9.pdf Bibliography Hewison, A. (2004). Management for Nurses and Health Professionals: Theory Into Practice . Malden: Blackwell Publishing. Schofield, I. (2000). Healthy Ageing: Nursing Older People . New York: Elsevier Health Sciences. Read More