Discussion Post Response
Classmate Response
Thank you for your insightful post. Indeed it is the four staff’s right to refuse to care for certain patients or perform certain duties based on their religious, ethical, and/or cultural beliefs. Pozgar (2019) posited the same. Additionally, the first step of avoiding legal ramifications by consulting with the ethics committee on the way forward is commendable.
Other than the staff members’ rights, there is also the issue of patients’ rights and their kin (Emanuel et al., 2016). In as much as the staffs have rights, they also have a duty toward the patients they serve. Their duty, among many others, includes upholding and respecting the will of the patient. In this instance, the patient’s kin decides to terminate their loved one through euthanasia. It is not upon the patient’s kin to physically do it (as they are not healthcare staff); therefore, the staff can only pull out the plug. That said, the staff signed up to work in the facility knowing full well that such circumstances were bound to happen; therefore, refusing to obey instructions and choosing not to work for the physician amounts to insubordination.
While the staff may be given the opportunity to demonstrate to the larger committee that their religious and moral beliefs are the main driving force for their refusal to work with the committee (Marsh, 2014), the staff will also need to consider the hospital policies regarding their terms of work. If any of the staff members have an employment-at-will contract, they should expect serious action, including termination of their working contract, to precede the insubordination. Finally, in the letter to the Ephesians, Paul admonishes the believers that “Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Chris” (Ephesians 6:5).
References
Emanuel, E. J., Onwuteaka-Philipsen, B. D., Urwin, J. W., & Cohen, J. (2016). Attitudes and practices of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Jama, 316(1), 79-90.
Marsh, J. (2014). Conscientious Refusals and Reason-Giving. Bioethics, 28(6), 313–319. https://doi-org.ezproxy.ccu.edu/10.1111/bioe.12012
Pozgar, G. (2019). Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration(13th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning
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Question 
Discussion Post Response
Please help me respond to fellow student regarding topic in discussion post. Thank you
Discussion Post Response
Classmate Post
Understanding employee rights is essential for health care leaders and management. As a leader it is our duty to respect our employee’s rights. “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19, ESV). Keeping this in mind – and this case study – we must first understand that caregivers have the right to refuse to participate in certain aspects of patient care and treatment based on cultural, ethical, and/or religious beliefs (Pozgar, 2019 pp. 552). Keeping this in mind my one question to the four staff members that are no longer willing to work with the physicians to disconnect life-support systems would be; Why are the reasons you have decided to no longer perform these specific duties? The reason for asking this question is to not only get a better understanding of where the four staff members are coming from, but to also prepare a statement to the ethics committee for review and consultative advice as this is a new request and not something they had expressed in the past.
I would explain to the staff members that it is their right for conscientious refusal to disconnect life-support systems on patients, but also explain that “refusing to perform a task or provide a service counts as an instance of conscientious refusal only if the objector is refusing because she takes acting to be morally wrong or religiously impermissible” (Liberman, 2017). I would inform the staff members that this would be taken to the ethics committee for review and consultative advice to ensure that there are no legal ramifications. Finally, I would explain to them that “healthcare providers (doctors, nurses or pharmacists) who wish to conscientiously object to administering legal, safe and effective forms of medical intervention, must demonstrate to outsiders (say a diverse committee) that the moral and/or religious views that lead them to object are reasonable” (Marsh, 2014).
References
Marsh, J. (2014). Conscientious Refusals and Reason-Giving. Bioethics, 28(6), 313–319. https://doi-org.ezproxy.ccu.edu/10.1111/bioe.12012
Pozgar, G. (2019). Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration(13th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning
Liberman, A. (2017). Wrongness, Responsibility, and Conscientious Refusals in Health Care. Bioethics, 31(7), 495–504. https://doi-org.ezproxy.ccu.edu/10.1111/bioe.12351