Principles of Catholic Health Care Ethics
1. Cathy has wanted breast implants since the time she was fourteen-years-old. She has always just felt her chest was smaller than most girls her age. She has pleaded with her parents to allow her to have the procedure done. On Cathy’s sixteenth birthday, her parents finally cave in and decide to give Cathy breast implants as a birthday present. You are the plastic surgeon to whom Cathy has come. What would you do? If you were Cathy’s friend, what would you tell her?
Theprinciple of double effects would apply to this case. The principle states that the activity can be morally permissible if it would reduce harmful effects or the benefits of the action are not achieved through evil actions. In this case, the benefits of the breast implant would be beneficial to Cathy since she would become more attractive, but at the same time, she could develop Anesthesia and could also suffer from Hematoma, so it is wise that Cathy comprehends the good and bad effects of breast implant (Scott, 2019).Secondly, the principle of inner freedom would apply to this case. The parents of Cathy would have let her do whatever she wanted to do and what she perceived as right according to her. Allowing her to undergo the breast transplant would stop her from overthinking or mental discomfort, thus experiencing a sense of inner freedom. It would be a thrilling and joyful sensation as if an enormous burden had been taken off her shoulders. Lastly, the principle of well-informed consent would apply in this case. The principle states that people should undertake actions that are consistent with God’s love. Cathy would have remained the way she was because that was the love of God. Therefore, performing a breast Implant would contradict the love of God.
When Cathy comes to the hospital for a breast implant first, I would explain the dangers associated with the action. Then I would advise her to accept herself the way she is since that is God’s want, and she should not alter with the love of God. Being a friend to Cathy, I would advise her not to consider the breast implant and accept herself the way she is. I would try to explain to her that she is beautiful the way she is, so she doesn’t have to undergo surgery. I would also advise her to be patient since, at the age of fourteen, she was too young to have large breasts and that everything has its time. Lastly, I would tell her to wait for a couple of years to grow and mature intellectually and emotionally before making significant choices about modifying her body.
2. The federal government is proposing a program that would insure health care for every citizen in the United States. Such a program, however, would mean an increase in taxes. The issue is up for a vote in a nationwide referendum. Would you support the proposal to create a program to provide health care for every citizen?
The principle of informed consent would apply to this case. The citizens of the United States would need to explained earlier about the program in order to make their decision on whether the program would be acceptable or not. There would necessitate a thorough description of the program and its potential benefits. This would help citizens make choices collaboratively when there are multiple viable alternatives, taking into consideration the citizen’s specific interests and goals as well as the best factual information available about the program. Secondly, the principle of double effect would apply to this case. The government should consider the benefits of the program to the citizens of the United States as well as the potential dangers associated. The program would benefit the citizens of the United States since they would obtain enhanced medical services, but on the other hand, the government should consider ways in which citizens would not be imposed heavy taxes. Lastly, the principle of well-informed conscience would apply in this case. The decision to promote health care for every citizen in the United States would be align with God’s love for his people to be healthy. This program would benefit U. s residents and eliminate the hardships they go through while seeking medical services.
I would support the program since it would eliminate all the challenges people face while seeking medical services. This program would serve to enhance access to medical services, which is especially critical for isolated or disadvantaged populations who may not otherwise be able to obtain these treatments.This program would also equalize medical services, as no physicians or institutions can prioritize and cater to a more affluent clientele. This ensures that everybody receives the same quality of treatment, which contributes to a healthier population and a prolonged lifespan
3. You are the physician of Mark, a patient who suffers from severe depression. Mark comes to you to have a mole on his left arm examined. You diagnose it as malignant melanoma. Do you remove the growth and tell Mark that the growth was benign so as not to create greater anxiety for him?
The principle of informed consent would apply to this case. In a medical care context, informed consent allows the patient to engage in their own medical treatment. It gives them the ability to choose which therapies they want or does not want to undergo. In addition, informed consent empowers patients to make choices in consultation with their medical care professionals. This joint decision-making procedure is both a moral and acceptable need for healthcare practitioners. Informed consent implies that patients make a voluntary and knowledgeable choice. It also implies that the healthcare practitioner has thoroughly discussed the medical process, including the dangers and advantages. Therefore, the practitioner should thoroughly discuss the benefits as well as the dangers associated with the treatment with the patient before so that the patient can decide whether or not to receive the treatment.
Also, the principle of professional communication would apply to this case since excellent communication has numerous significant benefits on clients’ adjustment to cancer and therapy. In contrast, inadequate communication has detrimental ramifications for both health – care workers and clients. It affects the spectrum and the number of ailments provoked, allows for a more accurate evaluation of therapeutic effectiveness, affects compliance to therapy prescriptions, affects mental and physiological well-being, and contributes to client and medical care provider contentment. Professional communication would help to create trust between the patient and physician, which is the key motivating factor for the patient’s willingness to engage in the medical treatment. Professional patient-centered communication is connected with numerous essential and worthwhile medical consequences, such as compliance to prescription administration and diet plans, pain management, decent psychosocial functioning of clients (Fallowfield & Jenkins, 1999).
Lastly, the principle of human dignity would apply to this case. Once the patient had been diagnosed with skin cancer, the physician was supposed to handle him with the utmost dignity. The principle of dignity is a fundamental component of human liberties, and one of the fundamentals of nursing practice is protecting and developing the client’s dignity. If the healthcare provider respects the client’s dignity, the client would feel more at ease, comforted, and appreciated. As a consequence, the patient is better able to make informed choices about his treatment. Otherwise, the sufferers would be left feeling insecure, degraded, and disgraced.
It is unacceptable to conceal health details from clients without their awareness or consent. Doctors should encourage patients to voice their preferences for health data dissemination as soon as possible, preferably before the data is available. All data does not have to be conveyed to the client immediately or all at once; clinicians must assess the percentage of data a client is capable of acquiring at a given time, postponing the remainder portion to a later, more suitable time, and tailoring disclosure to meet clients’ needs and anticipations based on their predilections.It is recommended that doctors firstly ask a client what he understands about the condition, then convey the message in short portions and straightforward language, and finally recognize the intense sentiments that follow (Edwin, 2008).
Research corroborates the idea that genuinely notifying clients about life-threatening conditions do not increase the frequency of worry, sadness, melancholy, anxiety, sleeplessness, or terror. On the contrary, clients have better contact with family members and personnel, as well as higher confidence in the treatment they receive. Holding back information from clients devalues credibility and excludes clients since truth-speaking is at the heart of ethical relations. Because information is a potent instrument for both virtue and evil, holding back information from knowledgeable clients disempowers them and necessitates a more vital explanation than patient welfare.Withholding information from the patients is not acceptable. While therapeutic privilege is legally recognized, it is not ethically acceptable. Holding back information from clients does not assist them in the long term and may possibly create more damage than benefit, in addition to disregarding their rights.
4. Mary, an elderly close friend of yours, is experiencing pain due to a chronic illness she has had for the past 10 years. Given the pain she is in, she says she would rather die than to live another 10 years. She asks you to go to an internet website to research a possible concoction of drugs she could take herself to commit suicide. What do you do?
The principle of growth through suffering would apply to this case. According to ordinary human experience, the knowledge of suffering can enable people to build a healthy personality. People begin to learn that they are not the center of the world when they suffer. They begin to lose their sense of ownership. The reality that pain was not part of God’s initial intention for humans’ existence does not mean that people cannot profit from it. Mary believes that death is preferable to exist with pain, overlooking the importance that pain can have on individual existence even at the end of life.Secondly, the principle of human dignity applies to this case. This principle states that everybody must be valued and respected since they are members of society (Lederer, n.d.). As a result, every individual, irrespective of medical condition or other characteristics, is to be handled with dignity. Thus, Mary should be valued, respected, and comforted that she will soon get better and should not be discriminated against from the community operations owing to her medical condition. Lastly, the principle of professional communication would apply to this case. This involves advising Mary on the need not to commit suicide. This would also include telling Mary the necessity of taking medication in which she would eventually heal instead of telling her that committing suicide would be the best idea.
Once Mary approaches me to help her in researching the best concoction to assist her in committing suicide, I would refuse but instead, try to comfort her and explain to her that pain won’t last forever. I would convince her to undergo guiding and counseling programs and make sure that I am always with her to offer a company. I would also assist her in believing that things will improve and discover good aspects of her life. Lastly, I would encourage her to practice activities sheenjoys, stay physically engaged, and interact with others. By advising her through the measures mentioned above, she would change her mind on suicidal ideation and discover her worth of being alive.
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