Question

For this assignment, you are to write a 3-5 page paper (At least an outline)

What ethical issues are often faced in long-term care, and how are they resolved? Include examples.

Answer 1

AN OUTLINE ON ETHICAL PRINCIPLES IN LONG TERM CARE FACILITIES

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES

We know the common ethical principles which are:-

· Confidentiality.

· Autonomy

· Beneficence.

· Non-maleficence.

· Justice

· Equity

But are these to be considered in the case of an elderly resident in a long term care facility?

If yes, what are the challenges in doing so?

According to the Ethical Principles, we know that:

o The client has the right to confidentiality of his/ her details

o He/ She has exclusive right to information about himself or herself

o Equity: We should ensure people in the same circumstances are treated similarly

o The right of a person to privacy and self direction makes them independent of decision making.

o Justice dictates that the rights and responsibilities of all parties are observed.

These are but a few points. Keeping these in mind, let us consider some ethical questions.

ETHICAL QUESTIONS:

· Can a resident be admitted against their wish?

· How to prioritize patients on the waiting list for admission?

· Whom to disclose the details about the resident?

· Can an elderly resident do the decision making by himself/ herself?

· Can an elderly client refuse treatment?

· Should staff enter rooms without knocking, even when a resident is hard of hearing?

· When is it OK to rummage through a resident's belongings looking for something?

· Who gets to share a room?

· When should CPR and other life-sustaining measures be withheld or withdrawn?

· What about confidentiality when a well-meaning caregiver wants to disclose private information?

· With the rising prevalence of serious contagious disease, how much do you tell staff?

COMMON ETHICAL ISSUES:

When trying to answer the ethical questions, we understand that there are ethical issues faced by a long term care facility. And we can conclude that the ethical issues are mainly those related to:-

· Decision‐making

· End‐of‐life care

· Use of restraints

· Lack of resources

· Autonomy and decision‐making capacity

· Communication and cooperation between healthcare workers and the patients’ family

· Resident's privacy and behavior

SOLUTION:

How can the ethical problems be resolved remains a challenge. Some ways to be considered to avoid ethical issues are:-

· Resident ethics meetings should be organized

This helps to discuss ethical challenges and may lead to acceptable decisions for all included parties

· The relatives should be invited to participate in discussions concerning ethical challenges and in ethics meetings

· Participation of the residents in the resident ethics meetings should be encouraged.

This helps to enable residents to use their autonomy as much as possible.

· Identify the problems and issues as possible

· Compare the issues to rules and policies

· Identify the person who has power to control the situation and make desicons

· Make a plan of possible actions to be taken by the staff in various situations

· Formulate standing orders that can defend professionally and ethically and that meet the requirements of regulations and policies.

· Implement the plan accurately

· Evaluate the plan and make modifications as needed.