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1. Why it is important to communicate effectively in healthcare settings. [1.1
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Recommended: Patient safety and risk management
Communication in the workplace is a vital part of having an effective team. And when that chain of communication is broken, problems will arise. If this is the case, what happens when there is a person’s life on the line? In medicine, these situations happen all the time, and having the ability to communicate effectively is very important. In the ethical dilemma presented, a complication happens during a surgical repair of a ruptured bowel. With a preceptor that may have been intoxicated, the surgery was going on until the ureter was nicked by the doctor but he repaired it and closed it up. However, when the report came out, the accident was not noted and now I nurse wants to know what to do with the patient’s raised creatinine level. This situations presents the PA with an ethical dilemma that is a difficult when discussed alone; however, when analyzed through Jonsen’s Four Topics may be easier to decide how to handle this situation (Jonsen, Diegler, & Winslade, 2010).
Medical Indication- The Principles of Beneficence
Jonsen, Diegler and Winslade (2010) have created four main topics of medical ethics. In their first section, medical indications, they look at the principles of beneficence, or the act of doing good. Initially the authors as us five different questions: “What is the patient’s medical problem? What are the goals of treatment? In what circumstances are medical treatments not indicated? What are the probabilities of success of various treatment options? How can the patient benefit by medical care and how can harm be avoided” (Jonsen, Diegler & Winslade, 2010)? Initially, the patient was in the hospital for a medical problem and ended up rupturing his/her bowel. It is unclear if there is underlying problems going on,...
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...preserve the relationship he/she has with the doctor. It seems like an impossible decision; however, with the above analysis it is clear that the PA needs to report the discrepancy and side with what is best for the patient. As medical providers, it is important to put the patient before all else, and to put this patient through different tests and treatments for something that is easily explainable is unacceptable. Besides, if this doctor came to the operating room intoxicated, the doctor needs to be reported before major complications befall a patient. Granted, the PA may lose this well-paying job, but it would be unethical to covet such a thing above the life of an innocent patient.
Works Cited
Jonsen, A.R., Siegler, M., Winslade, W.J. (2010). Clinical ethics: A practical approach to ethical decisions in clinical medicine (7th ed). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.