Ethical and legal perspectives in healthcare. Health and Nursing Essay

Ethical and Legal Perspectives in Healthcare
Name
Institution
Ethical and Legal Perspectives in Healthcare
Case One
The first case is about Kelly, a 16-year-old with Spinal Muscular Atrophy type 1 (SMA1) who was willing to undergo a short-term intubation but was not willing to undergo a tracheostomy if the intubation failed (Gentry, 2018). The anesthesiologist's secondary plan was to perform a tracheostomy because it was likely that administration of sedatives so as to perform intubation would obscure her airway and without a tracheostomy, she would die. Her parents were in agreement with her decision not to undergo an emergency tracheostomy in case of a failed intubation.
The ethical issue, in this case, is that by honoring the patient’s wish, the anesthesiologist would be risking the patient’s life. The role of an anesthesiologist is to manage the care of the patient before, during and after surgery and in this case, the anesthesiologist is responsible for supporting Kelly’s life. Further, the anesthesiologist has a moral responsibility to ensure that the patient gets the best care, and in this scenario, the best option would involve a tracheostomy since it is likely for the intubation to fail. In case Kelly dies, the first question to the anesthesiologist is what they did to save (or not) her life, and they might be found at fault, especially since the setting is in an operating room for a scenario involving acute respiratory failure (Gentry, 2018). There is also the issue of the patient being an adolescent and although her consent matters, her parents have the overall authority to make a decision on her behalf. The fact that her parents are in agreement with her decision puts the anesthesiologist in a difficult position, especially because when the parents are in agreement with an adolescent, they are justified to refuse treatment, more so if it is of low-efficacy (Gentry, 2018). For Kelly, tracheostomy is considered a low efficacy treatment because it will not change her existing condition.
One of the ethical principles that have been violated in this case is beneficence. According to Melia (2014), beneficence revolves around the idea of doing good, which in this case is doing what is best for the health and care of the patient. By refusing tracheostomy, the patient is denying the anesthesiologist the opportunity to do what is best for the patient, from a medical perspective. The anesthesiologist understands that tracheostomy is what is good for the patient. On the other hand, failure to respect the patient’s decision will be a violation of the autonomy principle, which acknowledges that patients have a right to make decisions about their health as they deem appropriate (Melia, 2014). Thus, the anesthesiologist has a difficult decision to make.
From a healthcare p...