HSS401 - Legal and Ethical Issues in HealthCare

Law :

• Set of rules to follow

• Protection of the personal and public rights and properties.

• To preserve smooth functionality of the society.

• To set Ideals

Ethics :

• Standards of behavior that reflect moral values.

• Increase the standards of competence.

• To set ideals and values

• Set of Rules to follow

Morals :

• Conceptualization of rightness and wrongness is influenced by the cultural, personal, and societal values and beliefs.

• Formalize the guidance for personal conduct.

• To serve as a basis for forming personal code of ethics.

• Set of rules to follow and set ideals and values

The purpose of professional codes of ethics:

• Healthcare organizations policy and it should be followed

• To control behavior of members

• To increase the level of competence and standard of care within the group

• To earn more money from the patients

Define the term standard of care:

• the level of performance expected of healthcare professional in carrying out his or her duties.

• When it comes to the level of providing a care, it should be provided in an acceptable level to maintain the quality and the beneficence for the patient

• The patient legal and ethical rights to receive all related information regarding his case

Describe informed consent:

• a legal document derived from the doctor’s duty to inform the patient all needed information about his care and treatment.

• It will enable him/her to make the rational decision about his condition.

The importance of confidentiality for

healthcare professionals:

• Confidentiality is an ethical principle that stipulates communication between a patient and the healthcare provider must remain private

• The doctor will not cause any harm if he reveals part of the patients information

• Anything a patient says in a doctor visit or over the phone to a nurse cannot be discussed with a third party without express written permission with the patient

Advance directive:

• Legal options that allow patients to plan their health options in advance.

• Family can breach the Advance directive.

• It can be used when they become unable to make their own decisions due to illness or injury.

A document provides instructions directly to physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare providers involved in a client’s medical treatment.

It may details circumstances which treatment should be discontinued, such as coma, brain death, or terminal condition. It may also detail which treatments or medication to suspend and which to maintain.

It may also indicate preference regarding organ donation, autopsy and alternative treatments

• Informed Consent

• Code of Ethics

• Living will

It is when the patient gives the authority to another person to make the decisions on behalf of him if the patient is incapable of making his own health decisions.

It is not specifically a medical document, but it may serve that purpose. It confers upon the designee (someone who has been chosen) the authority to make a variety of legal decisions on behalf of the grantor (the person who gave the right or the permission). It takes effect when the grantor loses the capacity to make the decisions, through either unconsciousness or mental incompetence.

• Informed consent

• A durable power of attorney

• Code of Ethics