Applying Ethical Principles
The Missing Needle Protector
Introduction
Healthcare providers encounter many ethical issues with their patients due to the complex nature of the healthcare system. Healthcare issues sometimes involve parties, making it difficult for medical professionals to carry out sound decision making when caring for their patients (ACHE, 2019). The advancement of technology and the use of complicated gadgets in healthcare facilities have added complexity to ethical issues resulting from human errors during treatment procedures. In the case study involving a patient with a needle protector lodged in the belly due to a physician’s error during surgery could be handled through ethical actions and efficient communication.
Summary of the Case Study
The Missing Needle Protector gives an illustration of a clinical director, Straight, at Hopewell Hospital. Straight has noted that Dr. Cutrite, who is the longest-serving doctor in the hospital and used to perform excellently, has been experiencing a decline in mental and physical energy. Due to his decline in efficiency, Straight is thinking of having a reduction in the privileges and duties assigned to the doctor. This is because Dr. Cutrite is becoming a threat to many patients receiving treatment in the hospital. The ability of Straight to identify this critical ethical decision is guided by moral awareness. Moral awareness is the capability of an individual to detect and appreciate the ethical features of a decision that he should make to solve a problem (Levitt, 2014).
Dr. Cutrite had operated on a patient where he had erroneously left the needle protector lodged in the patient’s belly. He claimed that the needle protector did not threaten the patient’s life and that the patient should not be informed about the problem. However, the operating room supervisor reported the case to Straight, raising a lot of questions about the practice fitness of Dr. Cutrite.
Straight’s decision to reduce the doctor’s duties and responsibilities can be termed to be advantageous in the long run as it is a way of enhancing the healthcare system. Furthermore, he is facing a more complex issue that involves Cutrite’s act of leaving a needle protector in the belly of a client. This means that Straight has to find a way of confronting Cutrite about the issue and come up with an idea of assisting the patient.
Factors Contributing to the Ethical Issue
In this case study, it can be seen that the operating supervisor had to think critically and act once he found that the needle protector was missing from the equipment box. It can be said that his actions were guided by a moral judgment that if the needle protector could not be found after searching for it, then it must have been left accidentally inside the body of the patient (Ruppert, 2017). Subsequently, Straight found it a common sense for the supervisor to summon the patient for further checking to confirm whether the protector was indeed left inside the body – which is ethical behavior. Conversely, Dr. Cutrite responded to the situation unethically when informed about the missing needle. He assumed that it was right not to inform his client about the new finding concerning the completed operation. Cutrite’s action is a way of keeping the patient uninformed while it is the patient’s right to know everything about their treatment.
Communication Approaches
Effective communication between different departments in a healthcare system is crucial in handling issues effectively within a hospital (Keech et al., 2016). For example, the operating room supervisor noticed that the needle protector was missing and found it essential to report the case to the authorities. The supervisor took the initiative of communicating the incident to the authority, whereby the incident would have gone unnoticed. The other case of effective communication is seen through the reaction of Straight when, after learning about the missing protector decided to call the patient back and have her wound examined as a way of solving the issue. However, he learned that the patient had been discharged. His next step was to consult the chief of surgery in the hospital to enquire about the possible impact of the protector in the belly. The chief told him that the situation was not a serious threat to the patient’s life. Straight was able to know about the consequences of Cutrite’s action through communication.
Contrary, Dr. Cutrite’s failure to inform the client about the situation prevented her from her right to information, which would have helped her decide the issue. Hence, effective communication only applies where there is a proper communication protocol that enhances ethical decision making.
The approach used by Professional to Deal with the issue
The approach used to handle the issue applies ethical behavior guided by the code of conduct whose main objective is to protect the health of the public. Therefore, healthcare providers must offer quality services and protect patients from harm (American Nurses Association., n.d.). This issue of a patient having a needle cap lodged in her belly resulted from the hospital’s ignorance concerning the quality of services offered by its physicians. It is crucial to address the issue of the performance and quality of services of physicians in a hospital (Moradi, Najarkolai & Keshmiri, 2016). This can be done through performance monitoring as Straight had done on Cutrite. He had found through the services of Cutrite were declining despite having been the best doctor in the hospital – a finding that was confirmed by the missing needle protector. The operating room supervisor followed the right channel to communicate the issue to the authority in an attempt to find a solution to the issue. This is the best approach since it leaves the right people in the hospital, knowing about the changes they are facing in the hospital.
Applying Ethical Principles
Ethical principles help healthcare providers to make decisions when faced with ethical issues (Stolt et al., 2018). For this case, Straight should apply the beneficence principle to solve the issue. The principle requires a healthcare provider to do good to his patient (Stolt et al., 2018). Therefore, Straight should follow up with the patient and contact her to come back for a further medical check-up. Then, physicians will conduct a secondary operation to remove the needle cap. Contrary, Dr. Cutrite did not apply the nonmaleficence principle in providing service to his patient. The principle demands that a physician should not cause harm to a patient, whether intentionally or unintentionally (Stolt et al., 2018). Dr. Cutrite should not have caused harm to the patient by leaving a needle protector in her belly. If he had been keen, he would have avoided causing harm to the patient. Therefore, Straight should apply beneficence to correct the harm caused by Dr. Cutrite.
Conclusion
From the case, it can be concluded that monitoring a doctor’s performance over time is essential in providing quality services (Emmerich & Phillips, 2019). This will enable the hospital to drop the underperforming physicians, such as Dr. Cutrite. Furthermore, patients should be informed of any problem concerning their health because it is their right to know. Being informed enables them to make decisions about their treatment. Lastly, the entire healthcare system should work in unity to provide quality care services as required by the code of conduct.
References
American College of Healthcare Executives. (2019). ACHE code of ethics. Retrieved from https://www.ache.org/about-ache/our-story/our-commitments/ethics/ache-code-of-ethics
American Nurses Association. (n.d.). Ethics topics and articles. Retrieved from https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/nursing-excellence/ethics/ethics-topicsandarticles/
Levitt, D. (2014). Ethical decision-making in a caring environment: The four principles and LEADS. Healthcare Management Forum, 27(2), 105–107.doi:10.1016/j.hcmf.2014.03.013
Moradi, K., Najarkolai, A. R., & Keshmiri, F. (2016). Inter-professional teamwork education: Moving toward the patient-centered approach. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 47(10), 449–460.
Stolt, M., Leino-Kilpi, H., Ruokonen, M., Repo, H., & Suhonen, R. (2018). Ethics interventions for healthcare professionals and students: A systematic review. Nursing Ethics, 25(2), 133-152.
Emmerich, N., & Phillips, C. (2019). Should professional interpreters be able to conscientiously object in healthcare settings?. Journal of Medical Ethics.
Ruppert, S. (2017). NU02. 03 Ethical Decision Making. Journal of Thoracic Oncology, 12(1), S199-S201.
Keech, W., Kelly, J., Dowling, A., McBride, K., & Brown, A. (2016). The Importance of Effective Communication in Hospital. Heart, Lung, and Circulation, 25, S316-S317.