Free Ethical and Legal Concepts in Health Care Essay Sample
Health care is very essential for human life. Several organizations provide health facilities. The mainly supplied by the public assisted by private groups. It is necessary that patients get high quality medicare in order to shield the patients from unscrupulous medical professionals. This has been achieved by the establishment of ethical and legal ideas through the government and international bodies. The concepts are meant to monitor and regulate the operations of health care organizations.
The research paper analyzes the ethical and legal thoughts for health care organizations. This is made possible by the breakdown of the topic in three main parts. We analyze the legal and ethical issues and how they ensure that patients are served accordingly. This is followed by a critical analysis before a conclusion is made for the research study.
Ethical and Legal Concepts for Health Care
Medical laws are regulated by various federal bodies. This is to ensure that legal action is taken against the medical professionals who do not follow the guidelines. For instance, there is National Practitioners Data Bank. The body is responsible for recording the names of all the health care organizations in a nation. These include registered nurses, dentists, physicians, therapists among other practitioners.
Another important body is the America Medical Associations. It is charged with the duty of regulating and monitoring the work of all those who treats patients. The association follows through complains of the patients in relation to the ethics in order to ensure that appropriate legal action is taken against such health care bodies. There are several ethics that in medical practice. Some of them are discussed below.
Ethics of professional diligence should be embraced doctors. This clause binds all health care groups to advice their physicians and nurses to treat patients keenly. Negligence is not acceptable under any circumstance when handling patients. At the same time, health care groups should not offer substandard services to their clients. This law demands that once the patient is admitted, careful delivery should be done in all the processes until discharge. Negligence may be expressed in terms of poor care and infliction of injury by the doctor.
Intentional Conduct is yet another important heath ethics. This is a very key code of ethics for health care organizations. It covers sexual battery and invasion of the privacy of patients. Some medical workers touch their clients inappropriately without their consent. This may arouse the patients sexually against their will. Others publish secrete information about clients without their knowledge and permission. Such actions depict gross breach of contract between the patient and the health worker and may attract serious legal action.
Imposition of medical process is one of the ethics in health care. The law allows patients to direct medical activities while on treatment. Every health care professional has a legal and ethical duty to seek the consent of the client before examination and treatment. This is because some doctors may administer treatments and drugs without consulting the patient. In this regard, the health specialist breaks the law and may be prosecuted by the court. The ethics gives immunity and autonomy to the clients so that they are not exploited by the doctors as stipulated in the Patient Self-Determination Act.
Clinical liability risk management is also a vital ethics for health care. This law instructs the health workers and managers in risk management. It is aimed at shielding the management of medical organizations against client claims while in their custody. A number of issues are addressed in this code of ethics. Health professionals must communicate effectively to their clients. They should also be friendly and empathize with them as they treat them. This would reduce many complains and accusations by the patients. Documents must be kept well. Files should be neat and arranged properly in order to minimize legal cases.
The ethical and legal issues discussed above indicate that health care organizations are under serious watch. It is therefore important for patients to be informed about them so that they do not suffer. At the same time, the doctors should study and understand their legal and ethical duty so that they handle their clients professionally. This would help them to protect the patients, profession and the entire health care delivery system.
Health care managers should ensure compliance and professionalism in their healthcare organizations. The discussion shows that if the managers would uphold the ethics, legal suits against them and their doctors would reduce. It is hence important for hospital administrators to be very competent. This will ensure that the patients are protected from careless health professionals. It will also reduce exposure to liability from legal suit.
Federal governments should be very instrumental in the legal and ethical concepts. From the analysis, we have witnessed two regulatory bodies which monitor the operations of healthcare organizations. Health professionals have both legal and ethical duty to perform their work. It should be the supreme role of every administration to ensure that legal actions are taken against all the health care practitioners who break the law. Most governments are not in control of their health care delivery. This may be due to politics and corruption but it is achievable.
The paper has elaborately analyzed the ethical and legal concepts that are related to health care organizations. Health is very basic to everyone and all the governments should ensure that they are in control of health services. More health regulatory bodies should be formed both nationally and internationally to protect the patients from exploitation and harm. Both patients and health workers must be informed on ethical and legal facts in order to promote effective healthcare delivery.