Patients and Prescription Drug Use
Healthcare professionals are faced with ethical issues in their day-to-day practices. They are required to make decisions that may not please both halves of the ethical dilemma. This case scenario will discuss a patient who requested the nurse give him drugs, yet he could not afford them. The patient was a stage 3 prostate cancer patient who was in pain and suffering. A nurse was in charge of the outpatient department. Cancerous cells had spread to other organs. Even though the patient was on ibuprofen, the pain he was experiencing was very severe. The patient is a 65-year-old man who comes from a poor background. He tells the nurse that the medical bills are overwhelming his family, and he is also suffering. The patient requests the nurse give him morphine to help him alleviate his pain. In this case, the patient is suffering and in pain, and the nurse giving him morphine would help with his pain. The ethical issue is whether the nurse should deny the patient care since she does not have money.
Care-based ethics believe that situations can overrule justice and universal codes of conduct. This theory focuses on our connections as human beings, and a moral significance is put on relationships between caregivers and care receivers (Schuchter & Heller, 2017). This theory builds on caring for individuals who are vulnerable and dependent. This approach advocates for compassion. The solution for ethical issues should not lie in acting based on moral principles but in being empathetic. This enables finding solutions that were not available before. In this scenario, the nurse should preferably offer care to the patient even though he cannot pay for these services. A solution could be for the hospital to collaborate with the patient’s family to raise funds and help him cover his treatment. However, this may not raise enough money to cover his cancer treatment.
A right-based ethics system outlines that individuals have certain rights that are unalienable (Kapoor, 2019). One of the inalienable rights is the right to access healthcare services. While in some countries, this is practical, it may not be practical in other countries. Following the right-based ethics, this patient should receive treatment even though he does not have the money to pay. This system is flawed and impractical since the patient should pay for healthcare services, enabling healthcare organizations to run, pay their employees, and stock pharmaceuticals.
The healthcare technology involved in this situation is the drug diversion program. This technology enables healthcare organizations to prevent diversion patterns. This technology enables healthcare organizations to track medications and inventory and ensure that drugs are administered to patients after due process has been completed. Thus, the nurse cannot give morphine to the patient if he does not have a prescription and does not have the finances to pay for the drug he wants. The principle used here is ethical egoism, in which individuals act on their own self-interests (Jetton, 2018). In this theory, individuals look out for their own long-term interests. They do not have any obligations to further the interest of others. The patient does not have money to buy the drugs, but he wants the nurse to help him with morphine for free. The hospital has a drug diversion program that will detect if any drug has been issued without due process being followed. There are consequences for doing this, and the nurse may lose his job. She is aware of this and hence uses ethical egoism to further her interest in preserving her job and not helping the patient in need. She is also preserving her organization’s interests since giving the drug for free will lead to losses in the hospital.
Crowdfunding is a technology in which money is raised from a large group of people. They pool together their resources to provide capital for a specific cause. Anyone can contribute to crowdfunding. Crowdfunding can be used in this situation since the patient has stage three cancer but does not have the money to pay for his care. The hospital can collaborate with his friends and family and implore wellwishers to crowdfund for the patient. Even though they may not fully cover his treatment, he may receive funds that can help to acquire basic medicines such as strong painkillers. The utilitarianism theory was applied here. This theory advocates for performing actions that foster happiness as opposed to unhappiness (Marseille & Kahn, 2019). It promotes the greater good. Through crowdfunding, the patient can get money to cover his medical bills, promoting happiness for him and his loved ones.
In conclusion, healthcare professionals are faced with ethical issues during the course of their careers. They must use ethical and moral theories to guide them in these processes. They must, however, be aware that the choices they make will not please everyone. They must thus analyze the consequences of their choices and decisions that will affect individuals they offer care for. They can use theories such as utilitarianism, social contract theory, ethical egoism, and Kantian deontology.
References
Jetton, M. (2018). Egoism and Others. The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies, 18 (1), 84-97. doi:10.5325/jaynrandstud.18.1.0084
Kapoor, R. (2019). What is wrong with a rights-based approach to morality? Journal of National Law University Delhi, 6(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1177/2277401719870004
Marseille, E., & Kahn, J. G. (2019). Utilitarianism and the ethical foundations of cost-effectiveness analysis in resource allocation for global health. Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13010-019-0074-7
Schuchter, P., & Heller, A. (2017). The care dialog: The “ethics of care” approach and its importance for clinical ethics consultation. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 21(1), 51-62. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-017-9784-z
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Question 
Patients and Prescription Drug Use
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
- Textbook: Chapter 11
- Lesson
- Minimum of 2 scholarly sources
Instructions
Develop, in detail, a situation in which a health care worker might be confronted with ethical problems related to patients and prescription drug use OR patients in a state of poverty.
- Your scenario must be original to you and this assignment. It cannot be from the discussion boards in this class or any other previous forum.
- Articulate (and then assess) the ethical solutions that can be found using “care” (care-based ethics) and “rights” ethics to those problems.
- Assessment must ask if the solutions are flawed, practicable, persuasive, etc.
- What healthcare technology is involved in the situation? What moral guidelines should be used for using that kind of healthcare technology? Explore such guidelines also using utilitarianism, Kantian deontology, ethical egoism, or social contract ethics.
- Say how social technologies such as blogs, crowdfunding, and online encyclopedias can be used in either case. What moral guidelines should be used for using that kind of healthcare technology? Develop such guidelines also using utilitarianism, Kantian deontology, ethical egoism, or social contract ethics.
You should not be using any text you used in a discussion board or assignment for this class or any previous class.
Cite the textbook and incorporate outside sources, including citations.