Care For Their Patients And Staff Members example essay topic

The Faith Community Hospital has encountered a dilemma of how to ensure that the staff provides quality health care for patients at the hospital and financial issues that could affect the hospital's patient programs. The staff at Faith Community Hospital varies from one extreme to another. There are staff members that do not provide enough care for their patients, staff members who provide too much care for their patients and staff members who put their own safety before the care of the patients. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has concerns of the many interpretations of hospital's mission by the staff and board members. The need for change is obvious to the CEO, but as to what the changes are still remains to be uncovered. One of the concerns of the CEO is of the behavior of staff, the patients and the patients' families at Faith Community Hospital.

There is an issue with medical treatment conflicting with religious beliefs. These staff members, patients and patients' families feel that they must abide by their religion and fore go medical procedures. One instance where this occurred is the case where Child Protective Services has stepped in to take custody of a newborn because the hospital staff and the child's parents decided against medical treatment. The Child Protective Services felt that the hospital and the child's parents neglected the child's needs to such a degree that it was necessary for the child to be removed from the parents care and placed into an environment where the child would receive the care it needs.

The hospital's decision of going along with the parent's wishes may not have been the best choice. Was the future health of the child dependant upon receiving additional medical assistance? Does the hospital have the right to go against the wishes of the family? Were there alternate treatments that could have been sufficient in treating the child that would not have conflicted with the parent's beliefs? "Officials in the administration of President Ronald Reagan rushed to pass legislation preventing future similar scenarios" (Medical Ethics).

Another instance of concern are of the staff members who feel it is necessary to do anything and everything for the patient no matter what it takes. These staff members believe that they are required to do what ever is necessary to ensure the patient receives the best care possible even when it comes to breaking rules and regulations the hospital has established. For example, there is the case where a pharmacist was providing patients with prescriptions even when the patient could not pay for the entire cost of the prescription. There also were the counselors who treated clients pro bono when it was clearly unauthorized by the hospital. One can argue that patients should get service based on the need and not on the ability of the patient to pay for the service. One could also argue that the hospital has obligations to other patients that are paying for the services provided by the hospital.

These staff members may want to help everyone, but in doing so, there is the possibility that more harm may have come out of providing these services without payment. The hospital needs income in order to continue providing a level of service that is beneficial to every patient. The fact that the hospital is in jeopardy of having to cut costs if the amount of patients is not increased is complicated by the fact that services are provided to non-paying patients. This practice may be affecting the hospital's ability of providing service to those patients who are capable of paying. Is it necessary for these patients to receive treatment at this hospital or are there medical facilities that are able to provide adequate free medical services?

It is understandable that staff members are willing to break rules to ensure patients receive the care they need. The hospital could research other methods of obtaining money for those who do not have insure coverage such as federal matching funds. This might alleviate the issues with the staff members who are denying services to patients who do not have insurance coverage. The actions of these staff members may be hurting the reputation of the hospital. Patients may feel it necessary to seek medical treatment at other facilities where the patients feel their needs are first instead of the hospital's financial needs.

To what extent are doctors expected to perform duties that involve treatment of patients who may put the doctor at risk? "In a statement in 1988, the AMA's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs declared that no patient should suffer discrimination or be denied care because of infection with HIV" (Medical Ethics). The staff members who feel it is necessary to put their own safety ahead of the patients should rethink the way they treat patients. There is a need to establish processes and procedures that protect staff members from infection by patients for those staff who are concerned about their safety.

All staff members should follow these procedures for every patient that comes to the hospital to ensure that there is no patient discrimination. By following these procedures, the patient receives the necessary care and the staff members can prevent becoming infected. If the staff does not take the necessary precautions to ensure that patients are cared for no matter what kind of infectious disease they might have, the result may end in the death of the patient Guidance toward organizational ethical decision-making may be demonstrated by establishing an ethics committee that staff and board members could turn to when questions regarding ethical decisions arise. Many hospitals have ethics committees whose purpose is to discuss clinical cases.

These hospitals have learned that management decisions have a direct and measurable impact on patient safety. That the bottom line thinking is promoting cultures where staff and patients feel the organization is cutting corners or is putting the company first in order to obtain a profit. This culture communicates to the hospital staff what is important at the hospital, which results in rewarded behavior accordingly. "When profit becomes the dominant purpose it is not just prioritized, it is 'exclusified' " (Curtain Calls). It may be necessary for the hospital administration to ask questions of themselves and the staff in an open discussion of issues that concern the hospital's ethical treatment of its patients. These issue can include the rights and needs of the patient, who may, for example, decide to discontinue treatment for a life-threatening illness, preferring to die with dignity while still mentally competent to make that choice.

There is the obligation of the doctor, whose duty it is to save and prolong life. There is the hospital whose administrators must weigh the obligation to sustain life against the expense of modern medical methods. There is also the law, such as the Quinlan case, which seeks to protect citizens from harm while at the same time respecting autonomy. The Quinlan case resulted in providing a means for patients to make advanced directives, also known as living wills, directing that their lives not be sustained by artificial means that the hospital and medical staff should make no extraordinary effort to resuscitate them. For this reason, decisions by an organization should include an evaluation of the impact of alternative courses of action, which could be done with the assistance of the ethics committee. These decisions should not only be based on those whose health needs are served by it, but also those whose needs will go un-served as a result of it.

Decision makers need to function with ethical standards. Ethical decision-making offers an adequate account of standards on decision making for health providers. In either the individual's or the organization's case, obligations are not just variables that can be plugged into some sort of moral equation. Careful ethical decision-making takes reflection, practice, and dialogue. Ethical decision-making is also a learned trait that is best obtained in a company with strong core values or by persons experienced in organizational ethical reflection. The CEO of the Faith Community Hospital is taking the right steps toward establishing a single interpretation of the hospital's mission.

It is necessary to ensure that all staff and board members understand the implications of unethical decision-making. In order to increase patient enrollment and prevent bad media coverage, the hospital must establish some sort of guidance for the staff members to abide by instead of allowing the continuation of each individual making his or her own decision based on the situation at that time. An ethics committee is a good way of providing a means for reflection of questionable decisions, where discussions of all implications determine the best possible plan of action for the particular patient. A standard may also provide a means of establishing a guideline for staff members to use when conflict ion of beliefs and obligations conflict with one another. In either case, a change needs to be made to ensure staff members and patients are given the best possible methods of making health care decisions that ensure the patient is cared for in the best possible way without jeopardizing the hospital's financial obligations.

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Health Reform May Actually be on the Horizon. May 2001. Online posting. web "Medical Ethics". Microsoft (R) Encarta (R) Online Encyclopedia. Online posting. web (c) 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation.

Summary of the Code of Ethics. Association of Traditional Health Practitioners. Online posting. web AMA (Ethics) Working Group on Health Care Organizational Ethics. June 14, 2001 Online posting. web.