Pediatric Care Ethical Dilemma Paper Example

Pediatric is a medical branch focused on providing medical care to infants, children, and adolescents. Ethical dilemma, on the other hand, involves a decision-making problem between two moral imperatives with neither of them ambiguously acceptable or preferred. This article will focus on the ethical dilemma faced by medical personnel when determining treatment or in cases of carrying out research on such young subjects (Garros, Austin, & Carnevale, 2015). In clinical research, the TCPS2 article provides a ground for what is considered ethical considering the following; (a) respect for the person, this involves the medical personnel handling the subject at the study with the maximum respect any human being deserve regardless of their age. (2) Concern for welfare, this points out that the medical personnel should in a position to minimize any harm that may come to the subject. (3) Justice, the medical should treat the subject fairly and share risks involved in the process with them.

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Informed consent still remains to pose a great dilemma for the medical profession since most ethical regulatory boards are silent on the issue of age when it comes to this. Since informed consent is based on the intellectual and cognitive capacity of an individual and effective communication skills, acquiring consent becomes hard since in cases of subjects with minor age or those with a disability. Even though the TCPS2 provide a limited guideline on informed consent, Best Practices for Health Research Involving Children and Adolescents provide guidelines based on international ethical norms and empirical evidence on studies involving children as participants. When conductive a research on a child with a disability, collaborative consent becomes the best approach in handling it. It involves the medical personnel, the research subjects, and the family of the subjects agreeing on their guidelines with reference to documented guidelines about the process and all it involves.

Justice in medical research and any medical profession has also been one of the key areas causing a dilemma on what should be considered just or not. In handling a case of a child with a mental disability, justice becomes a base of argument as to carrying out an experiment or carrying out an operation on that kid without their consent is just. The main question will be if agreeing to conduct an experiment on a disabled kid is just or not (Ryan, 2014). Consent and assent also provide another ground for moral philosophy dilemma. This generally is where the patient or subject together with their family agree to take part in a research or a treatment out of free will. Some scholars have argued out that the children should also be given a chance to make a decision before conducting any medical procedure. The dilemma comes in when the question of age and readiness of the kid to make a reasonable decision is put on the table.

Child-centered communication is also one of the issues that pose ethical dilemmas. It focuses on establishing a means of communication with the kid in such a manner that the kid is able to understand the entire procedure ready to be carried out. The dilemma comes about whether the cognitive capability of the child is able to understand the procedure and make a rational decision regarding it. It also asks the question as to how the child will be able to decide what is wrong and right for him or her. One of the most crucial issues that have constantly posed ethical dilemma is child and family-centered decision making. The act of explaining the procedures involved in a medical research on the treatment of a child in the presence of the family and the child has posted a great dilemma (Ryan, 2014). The main issue is whether it is appropriate for the medical personnel to involve the kid and the family at a central point in making the decision. This really does cause great confusion since explaining of a medical procedure can impact fear on a child thus resulting in more problems.

The right medical procedure to be used on a child may also pause a great challenge among the medical personnel. In the medical field, at times there are some procedures considered only to use on adults but at times they become the only solution to help the child thus making a decision becomes a great challenge. Medically it may be prohibited but the family or even the kid may require the doctor to carry out the procedure leaving him or her in a dilemma of saving a life by going against the code of ethics or letting a patient die by abiding by the codes of ethics.

Conclusion

Ethical dilemma in the medical procedures has become a great issue since it presents itself in a way that the medical personnel finds it hard to judge on what is right or wrong since most dilemmas are not documented on the ethical codebooks. Therefore, in considering something ethical, there is a need for the medical professional to use all the available documented ethical guidelines. Situations where there are no documented guidelines, the medical personnel should take on board what is universally accepted as a logical decision in deciding the appropriate action to be taken. This will not only provide a ground for making a regret-free decision but also one that would end up in saving a life.

References

Garros, D., Austin, W., & Carnevale, F. A. (2015). Moral distress in pediatric intensive care. JAMA pediatrics, 169(10), 885-886.Ryan, E. S. (2014). Ethics in Pharmacologic Research in the Child with Disability.