Ethical Dilemmas in Patient Care

Paper Summary:

This paper presents a case study of a 75 year old man who suffered from cardiorespiratory arrest, was treated in ICU for seven days, and was not responding to treatment. The paper discusses the family's feelings regarding the patient's care, as well as the aims of the hospital. It then analyzes the ethical dilemmas involved in the case, particularly where there are conflicting desires.

From the Paper:

"Lastly, the principle of justice also plays an important part in this case. Justice is to give to a person what is due (McCormick, 2008). There must be a fair distribution of resources in the society. Nowadays, a hospital may encounter a shortage of nursing and medical staff, medications, bed space, and equipment. Therefore, the principle of justice helps in deciding how to allocate these resources to admitted patients. Ideally speaking, people who are equals must be given equal treatment. However, there are times when the resources are not enough to allocate for every patient. Hospitals may allocate resources by triage, outcome of patient's quality of life, first come first served, or macro-allocation (Jonsen and Edwards, 2008). In allocating care for Mr. B., one should ask if continuing care for a man with a grave prognosis is still justifiable. The longer that Mr. B uses resources from the hospital, he might deprive others of resources who have a greater chance of living. However, the principle of justice emphasizes on the fact that every patient should receive the best medical treatment possible. Therefore, Mr. B should receive adequate resources for him to live."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Ascension Health. (2007). Principle of Distributive Justice. [Online.] Retrieved 31 May 2008 from the Web site: http://www.ascensionhealth.org/ethics/public/key_principles/distributive_justice.asp.
• Canadian Nurses Association. (2002). Code of Ethics. [Online.] Retrieved 26 February 2005 from the Web site: http://cna-aiic.ca/CNA/documents/pdf/publications/CodeofEthics2002_e.pdf.
• Drugs.com. (Sept 2006). Levophed. [Online.] Retrieved 30 May 2008 from the Web site: http://www.drugs.com/pro/levophed.html.
• Jonsen, A. R., and Edwards, K. A. (11 April 2008). Ethics in Medicine: Resource Allocation. [Online.] Retrieved 31 May 2008 from the Web site: http://depts.washington.edu/bioethx/topics/resall.html.
• Lang, F., and Quill, T. (2004). "Making decisions with families at the end of life." American Family Physician, 70: 719-723, 725-726.

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