ESSAY: Ethics in Healthcare Interview

Contact a health care professional and arrange to conduct aninterview. Use the interview to understand the ethical perspective ofthe health care professional regarding the following:
1.How does the health care professional define ethicalchallenges?
2.How does the health care professional handleethical challenges?

Write a 1,250-1,500 word paper based on the interview in which youaddress the following:
1.Explain the application of ethics in the health careenvironment of the interviewee.
2.Compare and contrast theinterviewee’s answers with what you have learned in thiscourse.
3.Include additional resources that support, reinforce,or even challenge your findings and observations.

ANSWER

Ethics in Healthcare Interview

I conducted an interview with a practicing nurse to understand the applications of ethics in a healthcare environment. Nurse Dorothy (not her real name) is a nurse practitioner based in a clinic in an urban center. The interviewee has been practicing nursing for the last 10 years and through her experience, I determined that I could realize a deeper understanding of the different aspects of ethical concerns and issues in nursing. Nurse Dorothy holds a Master’s degree in nursing (MSN). The interview took place at her work station between 10: 25 AM and 11: 40 AM on August, 1^st 2019. In this paper, the discussion on the application of ethics in a work environment and a comparison…

Main Ethical Ideas Identified from the Interview

From the discussion with the nurse practitioner, it was evident that almost all scenarios involving healthcare provision require the application of the pillars of ethical decision making in healthcare. The interviewee responded by arguing that ethics is one the most significant consideration for successful careers in nursing, supporting the suggestions by Butts and Rich (2019). She provided that breach of the legal and ethical requirements is the source of unfulfilled careers, loss of practicing license and legal suits on negligence that result in loss of reputation. The interviewee also confessed that she had witnessed a number of nurses with whom she had gone to nursing…

From the interview, I was interested in understanding how the nurses apply the ethical considerations in completing their daily professional duties. However, I sought to know what the interviewee understands ethics in nursing practice. The respondent eloquently provided the meaning by suggesting that ethics refers to the moral guidelines that dictate the decision making considerations while caring for the patients. The interviewee also provided that healthcare provision is guided by 4 pillars of ethics; maleficence, beneficence, autonomy and justice. Effective application of these considerations is likely to result in the most ethical and sound decision concerning the nature of intervention to be provided. However, as it is expected, it is not always an easy undertaking when faced with factual challenging situations in the work environment (Butts & Rich, 2019). To have a better understanding of the real situations, I inquired how healthcare professionals should deal with a patient presenting with a damaged brain injury and in need of life support. I specifically wanted to know how healthcare practitioners ethically handle controversial issues such as one that involves euthanasia. I noticed that the nurse was particularly careful when handling this topic because she understood the …

I also wanted to understand how the practitioners handle other controversial issues such as abortion and contraceptives for teenagers. I asked the respondent to describe the actual actions that healthcare providers take when faced with an underage patient requesting for oral contraceptives or one that comes to seek for abortion. The respondent further provided that these issues command significant ethical concerns that need to be carefully thought out. The procedure of handling the issue is similar to the one provided in the case of euthanasia. One starts by looking at the legality of the issue, whether the patient has acquired the legal age of consenting to sexual activity. The practitioner will then be required to inform the patient of the benefits of having protected sex and the risks associated with engaging in unprotected sex. In doing this, the interviewee argued, “The practitioner is fulfilling a duty to society by seeking to realize the safety of the patient and child …

The interviewee also pointed out other ethical instances that are not given priorities in nursing schools. For instance, she mentioned that the professional and ethical requirements demand that all people are provided with medical attention without bias and free of conflict of interest, especially when providing emergency care (Aacharya, Gastmans & Denier, 2011). However, in most instances, institutions will give people with insurance and class in society while uninsured and poor individuals are either sent away or given minimum attentio… professionals.

Comparison of the Interview with Course Materials

            In most part, the findings reflect many of the aspects that were identified in the course learning materials. The discussion of the four main pillars of ethical healthcare provision was evident in the discussion with the interview. While the classroom content helped me to learn the definition and possible applications through examples, the interview has provided practical ideas on how these concepts are applied in the health care environment. On the one hand, there was the feeling that the legalities and ethics could be looked at as different components, but the interview clearly illustrated the close ties that many of the ethical considerations have with the legal implications. In all cases that I inquired during the interview, the respondent always pointed out to the need to consider the legality of each issue. Understanding…

            While the course materials provided ample examples of how to handle ethical concerns, having the interview showed some other components that were not sufficiently covered in the course. For instance, the discussion about the conflict of interest as one way in which healthcare institutions face ethical dilemmas was a concept that was aptly highlighted during the interview. Indeed, the respondent did acknowledge as much that most practitioners may not even notice that they are breaching the professional code of conduct …

References

Aacharya, R. P., Gastmans, C., & Denier, Y. (2011). Emergency department triage: An ethical analysis. BMC Emergency Medicine, 11(1), 16.

Butts, J. B., & Rich, K. L. (2019). Nursing ethics. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Potter, P. A., Perry, A. G., Stockert, P., & Hall, A. (2016). Fundamentals of nursing. Elsevier Health Sciences.