In: Nursing
Patient's right to terminate care
As per law, competent patients are allowed to refuse treatment even if the treatment is seen to be medically necessary.This indicate every individual have the right to choose what will be done to their own body, and it applies even when refusing treatment means that the person may die. In any instance the patients have the moral and legal right to determine what will be done with their own treatment plan. This is universally recognized as a fundamental principle of liberty.
The healthcare professionals have to be given accurate, complete, and understandable information in a manner that facilitates an informed judgment. Also assis with weighing the benefits, burdens, and available options in their treatment, including the choice of no treatment. Help them to accept, refuse, or terminate treatment without deceit, undue influence, duress, coercion, or penalty. And to be given necessary support throughout the decision-making and treatment process. Patients should be involved in planning their own health care to the extent they are able and they have the right to take ultimate decision on their course of treatment.
The steps a patient would take to terminate care.
There are five basic steps in refusal of treatment
Informed refusal, just like informed consent, comprises three elements:
Ethical components of patient's right to terminate care
Patients' rights formalized in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes “the inherent dignity” and the “equal and unalienable rights of all members of the human family”.The patient's right to autonomy should always be respected and steps shall be taken to make consent truly informed. There is, however, no absolute right to consent on the basis of philosophical, ethical, legal and practical considerations.
Ethical issues are arising in some refusals like When should physicians end lifesaving treatments? How can we balance pain relief? We now have more technologies that allow us to prolong life, and patients families and society therefore demand these treatments in the wish to “do everything.” In such cases refusal from patient side will definetly cause mental dilemma in healthcare providers.
This has two sides. no one should compel a patient on their treatment choice, some treatments like blood transfusion will not be accepatable for some religions. hurting this believes is not ethical in the sense. At the same time, if the patient die or enter in more serious complication due to refusal of treatment calso cause an ethical issue. Refusal of treatment not always works in relay with ethics of the society.