When it comes to healthcare patient consent is of high importance. It is essential that consent is made essential in the scope of the schedule healthcare practice. The justification which is concerning patient consent is crucial in accordance to the rudiments of the all-inclusive approach to healthcare. The reason of taking consent for the healthcare or treatment is vital as it provides the patients the chance to make decisions regarding suitable healthcare plan which is in accordance with what the patient wants and can afford with regards to their finances. Simultaneously, when it comes to childcare, it carries even greater importance always to respect the decision that is being made by the family or the person who carries the consent (Doherty Purtilo, 2015). The reason behind it is the age factor of the child. Children below eighteen years of age or not eligible to make healthcare decisions, that is why their guardians or parents are given the right to make this decision for them. The ethical issue is applicable to the majority of developing countries. In this paper, I will be discussing the ethical dilemma that has been portrayed by the healthcare team who were dealing with a severely sick 6-year-old whose parents are Christian Scientists.
Discussion
In accordance with the given case, the consent factor needs to be taken into consideration due to the age of the child. The parents are the guardians and have the right to take the decision for their young one. The child was diagnosed with having meningitis. The 6-year-old had shown signs of vomiting and non-stop seizures. It is a given that proper treatment needs to be provided so that the childs condition can be managed as soon as possible. Further, the study showed that it was facing a dilemma because of the spirituality and cultural beliefs of the parents. Both the parents are Christian scientists and believe in the fact that the child is to be treated without any medical intervention. It is based on her belief that they are hesitating and showing concern that the medical issue is dealt without medication (Pinar Peksoy, 2016). This has left the healthcare givers in turmoil. They are faced by the ethical dilemma which exists in regards with the implementation of treatment and care for children, but at the same time they should ensure, provide, respect and satisfy in regards with what the parents want.
Now the caregiving is completely dependent on the nurse, he or she is entitled to make the decision that what is to be done. In such a case the usage of wisdom and evidence-based nursing practice is highly required. Now it all depends on the construction of framing an impactful care plan it should be designed by keeping the following points in mind
The assessment of the patient is to be done with regards to history. The school staff, friends, teachers, and the child should be interrogated if that is possible.
Impactful means and possible suggestions of a treatment which are available in regards to the workforce and sources of the current healthcare setup is to be analyzed.
Prompt action needs to be taken. The immediate meeting should be held within the presence of the physician, senior nurse and various health care professionals who have dealt with such an issue before.
The parents should be immediately contacted for the sake of taking consent.
We are well aware of the fact that there is an ethical dilemma. The childs parents have a cultural and spiritual belief in regards to medicinal intervention. In such a case, the decision should be made the help of discussion done with relevant experts of the field.
At this point, the usage of impactful and competent conversation skills are of great importance for the job responsibility of the nurse. The nurse needs to manage the parents tactfully. She needs to help them understand the benefits and importance of medical intervention in a way that they accept it and understand it.
Further, on the basis of the judgement which is made by the healthcare experts and professionals, the care plan needs to get initiated.
In combination to the procurement of the permission and consent for the initiation of the healthcare and the treatment, it is essential that at least one of the parent has mentioned that the decision and usage of medicine are in alignment to the opinion of the relevant expert, which further will be followed by the nurses. It is essential that the details in regards to the medical intervention, the clinics decision and in support for the usage of evidence in the care plan that has been constructed should be recorded. The record can be later used in evidence-based nursing approach and training in the future.
Even if the nurses cannot even convince one of the parents to understand the sensitivity of the dilemma, the hospital needs to make a full proof record of why they had to take the measures that they did. It is evident that the related experts will be able to help make the attorney understand the issue that was being faced. The childs life was in danger, and they had to make a decision to either listen to the parents or let their young one suffers. All the patient history report and current analysis should be shown to strengthen the case further. The healthcare staff, hospital, administrator and the physicians should also be told about the possible consequences of the case and should know what to say when they are questioned. It was a decision between the health of the child or the parents religious belief. Either way, they had no choice left. They even have the record of talking to both of the parents and trying to make them understand that medical intervention was necessary to reverse the condition of the child and prevent it from further worsening.
Keeping the care plan and treatment in mind, it is very important to keep in consideration the medication and other need in accordance with the legislative and ethical concern for the medication administration. The concern needs to be properly diagnosed, recorded and given analyzation for the use of oxygen support, use of steroids for the swelling and intravenous fluid administration. When it comes to transferring of the child to the intensive care unit which is for children, the choice should be completely based on the decision that has been made in conjunction with the judgement of the stats of the patient. Long story short, it is safe to say that the use of impactful communication skills, identifying the appropriate and impactful treatment routine and the knowledge of the nursing approach is one of the most crucial parts that should be kept under consideration in accordance to the concerned case that is being dealt with. Further, the heritage and ethical dilemma issue can be resolved by advocating and explaining to the parents the sensitivity of the time and the crucial need of the medication (Vryonides et al., 2015). Additionally, in order to avoid any possible conflict in the utilization of the mentioned care plan, it is vital to make a record of the clinical decision that was made. The possible reason behind making this decision so after the parents have sued the hospital the attorneys should be well aware of how they can defend the clinics decision.
Conclusion
The best way to solving such an ethical concern is the use of effective communication skills. The counseling of both the parents needs to be done by the experts and professionals to make them understand the necessity of the medicinal use. Both verbal and nonverbal communication is required to make an impact. Dear parents, we are well aware of the fact that you have certain religious beliefs that you abide by. The hospital and the physicians are aware of your reservations, but after looking at the condition and medical history of your child, it is unfortunate to say that medical intervention is indeed required. It will help stabilize the childs condition and stop it from worsening. If you are still in the belief of the fact that no medicinal procedure be done, you may for the sake of your satisfaction talk to professionals and experts present in the hospital. It is a collective decision of the entire staff. However, we are still going to make sure that you are well aware of whatever we are doing. We will also share the test results of the child to ensure you that we have no intention of going against your will and we respect your cultural beliefs from the bottom of our hearts. It is the sensitivity of the issue that is making us take this issue. We apologize again if we have offended you in any way possible, but we are just looking at this in regards to the current condition of your child. As a hospital, there are certain policies that we have to follow for all the inpatients. We also would like to tell you that this is the last decision that the hospital came to, prior to it, we were trying our best that it does not come down to medical intervention. I hope you understand and comply with the need of the current situation.
References
Doherty, R. F., Purtilo, R. B. (2015).Ethical Dimensions in the Health Professions-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Pinar, G., Peksoy, S. (2016). Simulation-based learning in healthcare ethics education.Creative Education,7(01), 131.
Vryonides, S., Papastavrou, E., Charalambous, A., Andreou, P., Merkouris, A. (2015). The ethical dimension of nursing care rationing A thematic synthesis of qualitative studies.Nursing ethics,22(8), 881-900.
MLd@7@UnknownG.x Times New Roman5Symbol3. .x ArialC., Calibri Light7. Calibri .Cx Courier NewWingdingsABCambria Mathh2rgzr D D243X P)2xx Full Title of Your Paper HereDeGeorge Uzair Uddin
Oh0 0
P h
t Full Title of Your Paper Here DeGeorgeNormal Uzair Uddin19Microsoft Office Word@ @@P8@(L
.,D.,L hp
SWORPSD Full Title of Your Paper Here Title(XhZOTERO_PREF_1ZOTERO_PREF_2data data-version3 zotero-version5.0.34session idQJqZvlMt/style idhttp//www.zotero.org/styles/apa localeen-US hasBibliography1 bibliographyStyleHasBeenSet0/prefspref namefieldType valueField/pref nameautomaticJournPalAbbreviations valuetrue/pref namenoteType value0//prefs/data
(),-./012346789@ABCDGRoot Entry F0zNI1TableoWordDocument@SummaryInformation(5DocumentSummaryInformation8CompObjr
F Microsoft Word 97-2003 Document
MSWordDocWord.Document.89q
