Should criminal charges be considered in this case, if accurately reported? Discuss your answer.
Respond to one of the following three “news clippings” related to virtue ethics from your Pozgar text
< legal and ethical issues for health professionals>. Write a 2 pages essay addressing the discussion questions posed for the one you selected. Be sure to clearly identify the news clipping you selected.
legal and ethical issues for health professionals is one of the resource
#1 Wrong Operation Doctor (ethics and integrity)
Hospitals find it hard to protect patients from wrong-site surgery.
Last year a jury returned a $20 million negligence verdict against
Arkansas Children’s Hospital for surgery performed on the wrong side
of the brain of a 15-year-old boy who was left psychotic and severely
brain damaged. Testimony showed that the error was not disclosed to
his parents for more than a year. The hospital issued a statement
saying it deeply regretted the error and had “redoubled our efforts to
prevent” a recurrence.
So, what happened? “Health care has far too little accountability for
results … . All the pressures are on the side of production; that’s how
you get paid,” said Peter Pronovost, a prominent safety expert and
medical director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Innovation in Quality
Patient Care. He added that increased pressure to quickly turn over
operating rooms has trumped patient safety, increasing the chance of
error.
Kenneth W. Kizer, who coined the term “never event” nearly a
decade ago when he headed the National Quality Forum, a leading
patient safety organization, said he believes reducing the number of
errors will require tougher reporting rules and increased
transparency.
Source: Boodman, S.G. (2011). Kaiser Health News,The Washington Post. Pozgar, 4th ed., p. 43
Assignment Discussion Questions
- Discuss the issues of integrity in this case.
- Should criminal charges be considered in this case, if accurately reported? Discuss your answer.
- Why did you choose to respond to this story?
- How is integrity displayed in your clinical setting?
#2 Cheney’s Staff Cuts Testimony on Warming
(Health care, Politics, and Trust)
The players and the politicians: Dick Cheney former Vice President
of the United States, Jason K. Burnett former EPA deputy associate
administrator, and Julie L. Gerberding, former director of the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention
Jason K. Burnett, former EPA deputy associate administrator, said In
a letter to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), that last October an official
from Cheney’s office ordered six pages to be edited out of the
testimony of Julie L. Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
Gerberding had planned to say that the “CDC considers climate
change a serious public health concern.”
Source: Eilperin, J.(2008) The Washington Post, July 9, 2008. Pozgar, 4th ed., p. 42 (trust)
Assignment Discussion Questions
- Discuss how headlines such as this affect your opinion of politicians.
- At the end of our days, the most basic principles of life–trust and survival–are on trial. What is your verdict, if you believe there was a cover-up?.
- Why did you choose to respond to this story?
- How are government and political trust displayed in your clinical setting?
#3 Surgeon Uses Ministry in Medical Practice
(Health care and religion)
DALLAS–At 83, Carl Smith faced quadruple bypass surgery and the
real possibility that he might not survive.
Within hours on this spring morning, Dr. Daniel Pool would
temporarily bring Smith’s heart to a stop in an attempt to circumvent
its blocked passages.
And to help his patient confront the uncertainty, Pool did something
unusual in his profession: He prayed with him.
The power of healing: Medicine and religion have had their day, and
they haven’t always been able to coexist. But as today’s medical
treatment becomes more holistic, doctors are increasingly taking
spirituality into account.
Source: Ramirez, M. (2013). Altoona Mirror, August 9, 2013
Assignment Discussion Questions
- Discuss the pressure, if any, placed on the patient to responding to the suggestion of prayer prior to surgery.
- Describe how you, as the surgeon, or nurse, would address a patient’s religious or spiritual needs if the risks of a complex surgical procedure appear to be threatening.
- Why did you choose to respond to this story?
- How is religion or faith displayed in your clinical setting?
