Essay Sample on Ethical Decision Making and Health Law

Introduction

Caregivers and other health providers have a responsibility to ensure that their practices are regulated and that consumers are protected and assured of the delivery of quality service. Ethical decisions are judgments and choices made by caregivers after considerations of all influences and outcomes of the decisions. Ethical decision-making requires that the health providers remain client-directed and the choices made have to be per the health law. As a health care provider, some of the ethical decisions that one makes may cause them to feel uncomfortable with the client directed process. Some of the choices made by clients may cause the health care provider uncomfortable with the process of care, and in some cases, the care-provider may feel that that the decision made by the client may not result in their quality health care. This essay therefore, tries to explore ethical decision-making and the effects of the health law on the choices using a case study.

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As Sophia's caregiver, there are values assumptions and beliefs that I may bring to the situation for Sophia and her son. A belief that Sophia might not be in a position to make sound decisions concerning her health. This assumption also connects with the postulation that Sophia is not competent in decision-making. The values that I may bring to such a situation is that the two need compassion and sympathy, and therefore the caregiver may be entitled to make a decision that empathizes with them even if Sophia and her son may not accept the choice I make. Additionally, like any other caregiver, I would assume that the belief and goals of Sophia may not be well lined with the anticipated medical outcomes that I expect to achieve with the patients. Noteworthy, as a caregiver I believe that Sophia has to move out of the house as it is not a conducive environment for someone with chronic cardiac conditions. Another belief is that Peter in his state should not be allowed to give care to anyone and also that he should not be allowed to handle medicine because of the risk of mixing them. However, despite the beliefs, assumptions, and values that I may hold as a caregiver, I ought to understand that health providers have to be client-directed when offering their services. A caregiver should always ensure that the decisions made should not in any way affect the autonomy of the patients and that they should conform to ethical requirements (Client-directed Care Management, n.d.). Also, I would leave the decision to Sophia of whether to separate her from her son or not. By doing this, I would ensure that my client has all the information and knowledge to make an informed decision.

A risk is the probability of some unwanted event or loss happening (Client-Directed care management, n.d.). The degree of risk depends on the autonomy of the individual and their definition of the quality of life. Risks can be seen as present and tolerable, not present and present and intolerable happening (Client-Directed care management, n.d., p.6). Other examples of risks factors that are to be analyzed according to the risk tool are personal factors, mental health status, health status and risk-taking behaviour (AN EXAMPLE RISK ASSESSMENT TOOL). In this case, the decisions made by Sophia have to be weighed with the potential benefits that she views. For instance, if the decision she made was going to affect someone close to her or if it was going to change her quality of life. Both Peter and Sophia are a risk to each other's health status. They live, but they cannot move out of the house as Sophia does not want to upset Peter. Peter wants to help his mother, but his condition makes him unable to provide any help. When he tries to help, he ends up mixing Sophia's medication and as a result, puts Sophia's life at risk. I would also give Sophia advice on the dangers of living with her son.

The existence of risk is often a significant factor that tampers with the ability of the caregiver to remain client-directed and sometimes causes the caregiver to be directive in their method of handling the client (Client-directed Care Management, n.d., p.3). Sophia's situation helps a caregiver to have knowledge that the decisions made by patients are not always for achieving good health, but many times other factors influence this decision.

The situation of Sophia and Peter denotes two types of risk degrees-the present and intolerable risk degree and present and tolerable. Peter is her sole, and as in the time that he mixed her medication, there is nothing that she can do to prevent that from happening again in the future. The situation of being served by an autistic person is a present risk but intolerable because she would not want to lose Peter. She is also unable to separate herself from Peter to ensure that she would avoid being at such a high risk.

Their living conditions also place the two of them in risk. They live in a terrible situation with rubbish that Peter collected all over the house. This can cause diseases associated with poor living conditions. Due to her age, Sophia might have to be hospitalized if she contracts these diseases. Peter, on the other hand, is exposed to tolerable risk. His mood swings are a risk to his mother's condition. There is also a chance that his state will not decline in the future and place his mother at more risk. I believe that despite Peter wanting to care and be there for his mother, his presence alone puts her in a lot of uncertainty. The untidy house and nature of things that Peter brings home suggest a present and tolerable risk. It is right to say that there exists a chance of living in a poor conditioned house, but this kind of threat is acceptable by Peter's decision to take out the dirty bottles and cans.

Individual safety is the legislation that I would just as a care manager in the case of Sophia and Peter. This is one of the essential legislations in medicine which states that doing what is best for the patient. This legislation is significant to care managers that are client-directed and upholds the consent and competency of the patients' decision on an action that affects their health. The care manager has to understand the balance that is present between the autonomy right and the community's duty to support these patients who cannot support themselves. In the case of Sophia, doing what is best for her should be the main aim for anyone offering care to her. Here, I would have to decide between staying in her home with Peter does good or bad for Sophia. Noteworthy, Sophia's decision to stay with her son should be accepted by caregivers.

Provincial law and administrative statutes are what would guide my work as a caregiver. Regulatory statutes set out for me the rules for handling processes and mechanisms that provide the norms, courtesy, and behavior that are based on Communal values. In the BC, the Freedom of Information and Professional and Protection of Privacy Act 1996 is an example of the administrative statute that will guide my client-directed work (Client-directed Care Management, n.d., p.7). Additionally, Professional Legislation is another law that would govern how I work. The individual safety legislation, however, categorically states that this is only possible up to a point where the person taking care of the sick family member does not pose a risk to the person being taken care of. Sophia's decision not to be separated from her son should be regarded as an autonomous decision. This decision, however, has to be backed up with health care consent. The health care consent Act states that the practitioners have a responsibility to understand all the factors influencing an approval and the legal requirements for consent. The Adult Guardianship Act responds when vulnerable adults are facing self-neglect. From the scenario, Sophia is partially neglected as the only help she can count on is that of her son who is not mentally stable. Therefore, according to the act, the agency of health care is provided the right to decide for the patient.

The most important decision to be made is whether to place Sophia on total care for the sake of her health or to let her return home for the sake of her son. Another decision to be made is that if Sophia is placed under total care in hospital, Peter's health will also have to be dealt with. Additionally, Sophia has to remain in hospital, and she will have to deal with the fact that there are strangers (in this case health providers) who will come to visit in her room. Because Sophia has to remain in hospital, the hospital has to decide on appointing one care manager to attend to her. One provider has to be responsible because the hospital has to respect her nature of not liking strangers. Additionally, for the sake of Peter, the care manager has to make sure that he is given attention for Sophia to be at peace that Peter is okay.

Present and intolerable risk will affect the decision-making process in this scenario. The fact that Peter is autistic presents a threat and the fact that the autistic condition has to be there makes the decision-making process very difficult. This degree of risk has increased, and this has caused the decisions that are being made by the medical staff to change. For instance, if the practitioners let her go back home for the sake of Peter, she might end up tripping on the bottles and cans that Peter keeps in the house and might die. If they make her stay under full care, it is not known how Peter will behave considering his autistic condition. Furthermore, Sophia hates strangers and might not live well under total care.

The decision on whether or not to place Sophia under full care rests on the medical staff and partly on the patient. Sophia might argue that she would be better off in her home than in the care of other people, but the medical results show that the best thing is to give close attention to her. Sophia sustained a lot of injuries including a head laceration that would ask for full consideration in the hospital. The Professional Act is a law that allows the doctors to act professionally and in this case, they have to health providers have to make a balance between ethics and professional decision making.

The five steps of ethical decision making include: Introducing the process and defining the problem, gathering facts and applying the relevant biometric principles, proposing solutions and final stage of decision making. The first phase, which is the introduction of the process and framing the problems, gives room for identification of the issues by all participants (Client-directed Care Management, n.d.,p.12). In this phase, the participants are allowed to identify the reasons for the participation and understanding of ethical dilemmas present. Noteworthy, this is the phase every participant is given a chance to raise any concerns that they have regarding the ethical problem being faced. For instance, in our case, Peter is given an opportunity to give reasons why he wants things to be his way.

The second step is the point of gathering facts and the application of significant bioethical principles. This is the step that provides for the careful collection of events and the scrutiny of facts using the bioethical principles (Client-directed Care Management, n.d.). This information is gathered under four topics, and the first part of this phase are those facts known to be accurate. The first is the health Indicators topic. The health indicators topic contains the fact-only information about the risks that are involved. This is evaluated with the client's preferences and assessment of whether the client is able. The second topic is quality of life. Under quality of life, issues such as the way that the c...