On Breaking One's Neck

I will argue that feminist ethics, when applied to medical treatment, is the most effective way to act upon medical decisions for the sake of the patient. According to The Complete Idiot’s Guide to: Understanding Ethics, “an ethic of care (feminist ethics)…argues for the moral value of caring and nurturing, and sees the highest moral good as caring for (and about) others.” (Ingram, Parks) During his recovery from a neck injury, Arnold Relman, author of the article On Breaking One’s Neck, found that the way he was treated by his physicians had a great effect on his mentality, as well as his recovery. In the grand scheme of medical care, feeling nurtured and cared about are the most important values for a positive recovery experience.

Some may argue that the quality of medical treatment and technology are the most important attributes to a successful recovery. Relman stayed at two hospital facilities during his recovery. The first was Massachusetts General Hospital, and the second was the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Cambridge. Both facilities belonged to the Partners Health System and, therefore, had similar technologies available. Relman mentions multiple times that his care at Spaulding, as opposed to Massachusetts General, was “sometimes excellent but often inadequate.” (Relman) He came to these conclusions based on how he was personally treated as a patient, rather than based on the quality of the treatments. At Spaulding, multiple physicians treated Relman. His main physician went on vacation so multiple associates stepped in to check up on him throughout his stay. None of these associates made him feel comfortable as a patient. They tended strictly to his dire needs and did not spend much time with him beyond primary...

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...ing a communications requirement for all of their nursing and pre-med students. It would not only encourage the students to have better “people skills,” but it would increase the communication and relationships between patients and their caretakers. This increased communication would lead to happier patients and better recoveries both physically and mentally. Humans have emotions, and those emotions must be tended to.

Works Cited

Ingram, David, and Jennifer A. Parks. "Biomedical Ethics." The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Ethics. Indianapolis, IN: Alpha, 2002. N. pag. Print.

Ingram, David, and Jennifer A. Parks. "Using the ‘F’ Word: Feminist Ethics." The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Ethics. Indianapolis, IN: Alpha, 2002. N. pag. Print.Relman, Arnold. "On Breaking One’s Neck." The New York Review of Books. N.p., 6 Feb. 2014. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.