Ethical Dilemma With Medical Bills, Research Paper Example

Providing good patient care as nurses and physicians and avoiding harm remain the cornerstones of ethical health practices. Indeed, healthcare workers always want to do the colloquial “right thing,” but doing the right clear is never always clear regarding how medical personnel should proceed. Every dilemma and situation is different, and even when a hospital are strict protocols in place to address certain quandaries, such situations still arise (Kramer, 2010). Healthcare today has skyrocketing prices, especially when it comes to hospitalizations and emergency care involving ambulance rides.  There arises various situations in which parents are unable to afford to pay for their child’s medical bills when hospitalized, which raises various ethical dilemmas for both patients and medical personnel, especially if the child is fighting cancer. The child needs treatment immediately, but the parents lack adequate medical insurance to cover that costs that continue to accumulate because an extensive hospital stay is necessary Such a dilemma must be managed according to situation and context, and nurses must make their decisions based on the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses in order to effectively proceed on effective healthcare decision-making.

The Code of Ethics of Nurses was created as a guide for nurses to carry out their duties in a manner that is consistent with the ethical obligations that entail the profession while maintaining quality nursing care for patients. While the healthcare world is a complex matrix of staff, medical personnel and corporate workers, Provision number two of the code of nursing ethics states that the nurse’s main commitment and focus is always on the patient, whether it be an individual or a family (Code of Ethics for Nurses, 2015). If a child fighting cancer needs treatment, it is a nurse’s duty to provide care in order to save a patient’s life regardless of the financial status of the child’s family. As provision number three states, the nurse always advocates for, promoted, and makes a concerted effort to protect the safety, health, and rights of the patient. While the business of healthcare in some hospitals would deny the right of medical treatment for a child needing a prolonged hospitalization to fight cancer due to financial insufficiency, it is the duty of a nurse to advocate for the patient in order to save his or her life or enhance the quality of their life through medical treatment. Indeed, as the next provision states, the nurse is held responsible for carrying out nursing tasks and delegating care to others in order to optimize patient care.

Children fighting cancer are victims of a disease that still has no cure, yet fiscal concerns have hindered the ability of many families to obtain optimal medical care when hospital visits are required yet insurance fails to cover the costs.  Patients who live in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas or who live in low-income households still deserve the right to live if they are burdened with a debilitating and often fatal disease such as cancer. Provision nine of the nurse’s code of ethics calls for nurses to enhance the value and the integrity of the nursing profession and nursing practices by  advocating for and shaping social policy. As such, in dilemmas such as the one presented above, nurses must advocate for the right of their patient, despite financial difficulties, to live regardless of their socioeconomic background.

Within the business-like world of healthcare today, such a dilemma yields a negative outcome for a patient requiring hospitalization for fighting cancer. However, such dilemmas are solved on an idiosyncratic basis, as some doctors and medical institutions are willing to provide services pro bono. Pro bono services by nurses and physicians enable such patients in this quandary to receive the necessary treatment without bankrupting the family in the process.

References

Code of ethics for nurses. (2015). ANA American Nursing Association. Retrieved September 23, 2015 fromhttp://www.nursingworld.org/codeofethics

Kramer, S. (2010). Five ethical challenges in healthcare.  AMN Healthcare. Retrieved September 23, 2015 from http://www.amnhealthcare.com/latest-healthcare-news/five-ethical- challenges-healthcare/

Top office issues for staff nurses. (2015). ANA American Nursing Association. Retrieved September 23, 2015 from http://www.nursingworld.org/EspeciallyForYou/Staff-Nurses/staffnurses