Capella University
PHI-FPX3200: Ethics in Health Care
Dr. Kim Carter-Cram
August 27, 2023
Tonya’s Case: Ethics and Professional Codes
Medical ethics remind stakeholders about personal and emotional aspects that influence individuals’ health and well-being. Tonya’s whole brain death and damaged respiration and cardiac functions reveal the emotional, physical, and emotional distress that force healthcare professionals to consider ending life support. However, such decisions are difficult to make due to the family’s interventions in seeking alternatives means such as ventilators that help prolong a patient’s life. Thus, Tonya’s scenario provides insights into end-of-life issues in health care ethics and options available for healthcare providers.
Ethical Principles and Moral Theories in Tanya’s Case
End-of-life issues exposes healthcare professionals to ethical dilemmas that require informed conclusions guided by a patient’s and their family’s preferences. The Kantian ethical model reminds providers to act in ways that they treat humanity (Donaldson, 2017). The practices include respecting patients’ autonomy and dignity and act according to rules that hold for everyone. For this reason, the care team understands the implications of living with a dysfunctional brain. As such, the best position would be alleviating suffering by ending life support. The intervention by the hospital administrator and medical ethicist revealed commitment to fulfilling duty of care by considering additional distress caused by the cardiac arrest and limited signs of Tonya recovering from the brain damage.
Codes of Ethics
Professional codes of ethics determine the care team’s responsiveness to Tonya’s situation. One consideration is dignity, which allows healthcare professionals to acknowledge the worth of every patient in their care. As such, it is necessary for the care team to dedicate itself to providing services that match specific patients’ needs. Ethical codes also require professionals to consider the whole person to sustain their living and dying. Providing physical, psychological, and social support is necessary to enhance individuals’ dignity and quality of life (Donaldson, 2017). In this case, healthcare professionals strive to relieve pain, discomfort, anxiety, and distress. A relationship of trust and compassion helps the family understand the reasons for choosing to end the life support. In Tonya’s case, the care team demonstrated the desire to safeguard health and well-being by alleviating pain and suffering associated with neurological dysfunction. The involvement of an ethicist also portrayed commitment to making a decision in line with the beneficence principle. In this case, acting in a patient’s best interests is crucial to alleviate suffering and promote a dignified death.
The Relevance of Mission and Value Statements
Mission and vision statements describe the common values that enable the care team to maintain the highest standards of care. The mission captures the commitment to providing compassionate and high-quality care to patients and their families from diagnosis to the end-of-life-journey (Schueler & Stulberg, 2020). Equally, the vision describes efforts to promote quality in life, compassion in death, and support to patients. Thus, the mission and vision statement capture organizations’ commitment to practicing patient-centered care characterized by resilience in promoting physical, emotional, and mental comfort for patients and families. Similarly, the concepts provide insights into strategic priorities such as providing exceptional experiences that match clients’ values and preferences. Saint Anthony Medical Center’s mission and vision demonstrate commitment to inspiring optimal care outcomes based on compassion, respect, and excellent in patient-centered services.
The Relevance of Accrediting Bodies
Accrediting bodies have the unique role of ensuring organizations comply with quality and safety standards across the care continuum. The focus on patients and best clinical practices makes agencies such as the Joint Commission appropriate for guiding organizations to set performance and ethical standards across the care continuum. Hospitals should align their procedures, processes, and core values with guidelines set by accrediting agencies to avoid exposing patients and families to adverse outcomes (Donaldson, 2017). In Tonya’s case, healthcare professionals refer to standards of excellent that require them to maintain patient-centered and compassionate care.
Conclusion
Tonya’s case reminds the care about duty of care that allows them to provide compassionate and high-quality care to patients and families. Healthcare providers should focus on patient-centered practices that enable them to alleviate emotional, physical, and mental distress. Adherence to standards by accrediting agencies such as the Joint Commission is also necessary to inspire excellence and ethical practices across the care continuum.
References
Akdeniz, M., Yardımcı, B., & Kavukcu, E. (2021). Ethical considerations at the end-of-life care. SAGE Open Medicine, 9, 1-9. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350063339_Ethical_considerations_at_the_end-of-life_care
Donaldson, C. (2017). Using Kantian ethics in medical ethics education. Medical Science Educator, 27, 841-845. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s40670-017-0487-0.pdf
Schueler, K., & Stulberg, D. (2020). How should we judge whether and when mission statements are ethically deployed? AMA Journal of Ethics, 22(3), 239-247. https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/sites/journalofethics.ama-assn.org/files/2020-02/msoc2-2003_1.pdf