[ANSWER]7951 Ethics and Law for Health Professionals

TASK DESCRIPTION

Ethic and Law for Health Professionals

Assignment Case Narrative Due Friday 9 October 2020, 10AM

Healthcare is a moral and collective endeavor shaped by legislation and common law that shape practice. Ethical work in healthcare is broader in scope than care or treatment decisions. Managerial or political decisions, lifestyle choice, and sharing of risk also raise ethical issues. When alliances breakdown between patients and healthcare professionals or among disciplines in the team, divisions can develop and distrust and feelings of betrayal may have damaging effects far beyond the immediate circle of people involved (Wintrup, Biggs, Brannelly, Fenwick & Ingham, 2018).

Successful healthcare relies on many negotiations and compromises and the privacy of the conversations between individuals is protected by law. The impression of ethical practice can be shaped by the ‘out of the ordinary’, complex and sometimes extreme cases, and these are often shared by the mainstream and social media.

The goal of this assessment is to recognise and become attuned to the legal requirements and moral/ethical aspects of everyday care and to consider your role as a healthcare student and future healthcare professional. The focus is on the application of legal principles, moral/ethical theory and ethical healthcare practice. Moral justification is important in moral decision making. Apply legal principles, ethical principles, moral theory, virtue ethics, and an ethic of care to frame your answers.

After you have read the above passage, choose three (3) of the case narratives from the five (5) below and answer the corresponding questions for the narratives you have chosen. Each answer should be 500-700 (includes intext references) words in length and the usual guidelines for academic writing and referencing apply. There is a scenario provided for each question and your task is evaluate and discuss your answer in relation to the related scenario, relevant legal and ethical concepts.

The choice of which three narratives is up to you. You can see that the narratives are from the health receiver perspective and are all focused on ethical and legal practice. These narratives may apply to a multitude of professional health disciplines including physiotherapy, nursing, medicine, pharmacy, psychology and counselling, to

accommodate your ability to consider the legal and ethical principles related to your own discipline.

You are required to submit this assessment via the assignment box on the units Canvas page. It is encouraged that you submit to the draft submission section first to receive and URKUND report for text matching. This may take 24-48 hours for a report so it is best to be well prepared.

ONE (Ethic and Law for Health Professionals)

A young man living in a remote community receives burns to his lower leg. He is flown by air ambulance to the city and is treated in the burns unit. Following a period of rehabilitation, he returns to the community with two pressure garments, the standard allocation per client, to be worn for scar management. The visiting health team conducted a follow up assessment four (4) weeks after his return. He had stopped wearing the pressure garments after two (2) weeks as the elasticity had deteriorated because he does not wear shoes. The pressure garments are not wearable.

QUESTION ONE (1): Identify and discuss the ethical issues in this case using the ‘four principles approach’ that is; acting for the good of individuals and society (beneficence), refraining from harming others (non-maleficence), being fair (justice), and allowing others to make decisions and act according to their own wishes (autonomy). Give reasons for your answers.

TWO (Ethic and Law for Health Professionals)

Tara, a 15 year old girl approaches a health professional and seeks assurance from the health professional that her conversation will be kept confidential. The health professional assures her that unless there are compelling reasons ie. that the public will be at risk of harm, that the conversation would be confidential. Tara proceeds with her request for the ‘morning after’ pill as she is concerned that after having unprotected sex with her boyfriend that she may be pregnant.

Tara is not taking regular oral contraceptives. She reveals that she has tried to discuss her sexual health with the family GP however, the GP was not supportive of her interest in being sexually active with her boyfriend. Tara shares that her parents (who access the same health service) are ‘very religious’ and ‘don’t believe in premarital sex’, hence her seeking reassurance about confidentiality. Tara further states that her parents would be ‘disgusted’ if they found out she was seeking the morning after pill and would disown her.

Tara has researched social media and online materials and has determined that there are no negative short (apart from a potential headache) or long term health consequences for her if she takes the pill. She tells the health professional that ‘one of her friends has had the morning after pill and she was fine’, and she wants to have it too, just in case.

QUESTION TWO (2): It is within the health professional’s scope of practice to supply the ‘morning after’ pill. What are the legal and ethical principles raised in this case? Are there multiple perspectives to consider? Give reasons for your answers.

THREE (Ethic and Law for Health Professionals)

The manager of the midwifery-led Continuity of Care Program (Continuity) at the local public hospital has capacity for one more woman in the current case load. Continuity supports women throughout their pregnancy and birth journey with a focus on achieving normal birth. Each woman in Continuity is supported by one dedicated midwife to provide a continuity of service and support.

Research suggests that continuity midwifery is the preferable model of care resulting in better outcomes for women and babies when compared to other models (Sandall, Soltani, Gates, Shennan & Devane, 2016). The manager has one position in the Continuity of Care Program to offer and three eligible women (all 14 weeks pregnant) on the waiting list; the other two women will be referred to the public antenatal program.

Ashley is 19 years old and has a 2 year old son, her first pregnancy and birth were uncomplicated. She currently does not have a partner, but her elderly grandparents are very supportive. She lives with her grandparents as she does not have stable housing or employment. Ashley is moderately overweight, otherwise she is physically well, she is a social smoker and suffers from anxiety and depression for which she takes regular medications. Ashley takes casual hospitality shifts when she is able to get her grandparents to care for her toddler, she also receives government financial support.

Mirka is 28, she immigrated to Australia 6 years ago with her family. Mirka is multilingual, with English being her third language, her English is still developing. She and her partner Catherine are expecting their first baby after successful artificial insemination using anonymous donor sperm. Both expectant parents work full time, with Catherine in an executive role;

Catherine plans to be a stay at home parent while Mirka returns to work after her maternity leave. Mirka’s family are not supportive of her ‘lifestyle’ choice ie. being in a lesbian relationship, and they are certainly not planning to have any involvement with the baby; the couple have no local family support. Mirka has been experiencing significant morning sickness, she also has diabetes (diagnosed at 6yrs of age) which requires insulin, but she is otherwise well.

Deb is a 38 yr old Ngunnawal woman. Deb had one pregnancy terminated in her early 20’s, and since being married has had multiple miscarriages in the last 8 years, this is the first pregnancy that has reached the second trimester. Deb has a supportive husband, and 3 older step children. Deb is nervous about her pregnancy given her obstetric history, but she is hopeful that this pregnancy will progress to full term.

Deb is following all of the recommendations regarding prenatal preparation, supplements, diet restrictions and prenatal yoga. Deb is an exsmoker, she has had a knee reconstruction from a sporting injury and has a history of endometriosis but otherwise is fit and well. Deb works full time in public administration, her husband is a small business owner.

QUESTION THREE (3): Which one (1) of the women should the manager invite onto the CMP? Consider your answer with regard to doing the ‘greatest good’ using ethical theory (not just principles) to craft your response. (Ethic and Law for Health Professionals)

Four

Two critically ill patients present to hospital, both suffering with COVID – 19. There is only one ventilator, and both patients are likely to die if they don’t receive support from the ventilator. Justin is a 39 year old painter who is single and lives alone, he has a history of mild asthma and epilepsy for which he takes medication.

Justin has been unwell for nearly a week, his condition is poor, doctors are predicting that he has a less than 50% chance of surviving and will need at least 3 weeks on the ventilator. Mara is 70 and is a part time primary school teacher, she also cares for her 2 preschool aged grandchildren two days per week, so that their mother can work. Mara has osteoarthritis and mild depression, she has been unwell for 4 days, but has deteriorated significantly today. Doctors predict that Mara has a more than 50% chance of survival and will require up to a week on the ventilator.

QUESTION FOUR (4): Use ethical/moral reasoning to guide your decision making on who should receive the ventilator. (Ethic and Law for Health Professionals)

Five (Ethic and Law for Health Professionals)

Harry is a 57 year old man who has been diagnosed 12 months ago with Motor Neurone Disease. After discussions with his family, neurologist and GP Harry completed a Health Direction 6 months ago which clearly states that if his health deteriorates that he does not want specific treatments such as physiotherapy, antibiotic therapy and admission to intensive care that prolongs his life. Over the last couple of days Harry has developed a chesty cough, rattily breathing indicating a chest infection, this morning his wife finds Harry is confused and disorientated with a high fever, and he is transferred via ambulance to the emergency department along with a copy of his Health Directive.

In the emergency department, Harry cannot communicate effectively due to his current acute illness. Harry’s wife explains to the health professionals that Harry had in recent times come to terms with his diagnosis, and that he was looking forward to the upcoming birth of their first grandchild in approximately 5 months time and an interstate family holiday after that. Harry’s wife expressed that she thought Harry would want to be treated for his severe chest infection if it was anticipated that the treatment would be effective.

QUESTION FIVE (5): In light of Harry’s advanced refusal (within the Health Direction), analyse the most relevant ethical and legal considerations that the team of health professionals must assess to determine their next steps. (Ethic and Law for Health Professionals)

Reference List

Curiel, T. J. (2006). Murder or mercy? Hurricane Katrina and the need for disaster training.

New England Journal of Medicine, 355(20), 2067-2069, doi: 10.1056/NEJMp068196

Johnstone, M. J. (2019). Bioethics: a nursing perspective. Chatswood, NSW: Elsevier.

Sandall, J., Soltani , H., Gates, S., Shennan, A. & Devane, D. (2016). Midwife-led continuity models versus other models of care for childbearing women. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 4. Art. No.: CD004667. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD004667.pub5.

Wintrup, J., Biggs, H., Brannelly, T., Fenwick, A. & Ingham, R. (2018). Ethics from the ground up emerging debates, changing practices and new voices in healthcare. McMillan International Higher Education.

[ANSWER PREVIEW]

Ethic and Law for Health Professionals

To understand the situation even more profoundly, however, the health professional must perform the Gillick Test (the Marion Case in Australia) on Tara. According to Knapp (2019) the test puts the health professional at the centre of the decision-making and subsequent solution. It outlines what must be done before the minor is considered competent, and accorded the same confidential rights of an adult.

The healthcare professional must ensure that; the minor is competent, it would not be helpful to persuade the minor to involve their parents in the decision, the minor may engage in sexual intercourse with or without contraception and, the minor may suffer if she does not receive the contraception (Knapp, 2019). Apart from ascertainment of competence and autonomy, the health professional can grant the request for confidentiality under one key conditions.

According to Raising Children Network Australia (2019) a child deserves confidentiality if the information neither puts her at risk of harm and death, nor portends harm or death to others.  The healthcare professional must also be guided by the ethical principles of accountability and beneficence. Since they are central to the decision-making and solution in this case, the healthcare professional must be ready to accept the…[Buy Full Answer Of Ethic and Law for Health Professionals for Just USD 9: 2388 WORDS]

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Topic: Ethic and Law for Health Professionals

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