William Guttilla_Week 6 Assignment_Ethics in Health Care

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Capella University *

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Philosophy

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Apr 3, 2024

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CASE STUDY: SHOULD WE WITHHOLD LIFE SUPPORT? 1 Case Study: Should We Withhold Life Support? William Guttilla Capella University Ethics in Health Care Case Study: Should We Withhold Life Support? The Mr. Martinez Case August 23, 2020
CASE STUDY: SHOULD WE WITHHOLD LIFE SUPPORT? 1 Introduction The subject of life support can be a very tricky and delicate topic as doctors, patients, and patient’s families all how different interpretations on the matter. A patient can make an autonomous decision that they would like a “do not resuscitate” (DNR) order if something goes wrong during their care or if their condition takes a turn for the worse. Depending on the gravity of the patient’s condition, that DNR order should be respected, but only based on the gravity of their condition. A patient wanting a DNR order should be consulted regarding of what the order means, especially if the patient does not have a life-threatening illness. Doctors should be able to decide based on the prognosis of the patient, of course keeping the patient’s ask in mind. A patient on life support without a DNR will make decisions based on their care more difficult for family members since they don’t know what the patient would want. This is where a decision should be made based on the prognosis of the patient and the doctor should be the one suggesting the decision or in some cases making the decision. In the case scenario concerning Mr. Martinez, all of these factors seem to be “in play” as his condition worsened but not because of the transgression of his illness but by an error by the medical staff. The Patient’s Directives and Quality of Life The directives given by Mr. Martinez and his wife were very clear in the case study, they requested that CPR not be performed, if required, and he has a DNR order written in his chart. What’s important to recognize is Mr. Martinez is not in any danger when he is admitted to the hospital, he was in a regular room and was receiving the care required of his condition. He was
. CASE STUDY: SHOULD WE WITHHOLD LIFE SUPPORT? 2 not in the intensive care unit and showed signs of improvement without any indication of complication. The care Mr. Martinez was receiving leads one to believe that he would recover, get discharged, and continue living his life. His COPD condition is not life threatening if the condition is being treated properly, which is assumed, as the cause of his hospitalization is an upper respiratory tract infection. As far as Mr. and Mrs. Martinez was concerned, all was well as Mr. Martinez was stable and on his way to recovery. If the condition of Mr. Martinez somehow changed, his chart had his desired course of action which was supported by his wife. The Cause of the Patient’s Current Respiratory Distress Although not too common, anytime an individual is under medical care mistakes can and do happen. Whether it’s a medication error, dosing error, medical equipment error, or human error, they do happen. In the case of Mr. Martinez, oxygen was part of his treatment along with antibiotics and fluids. Unfortunately, his oxygen level was turned up and caused him to go into respiratory distress. There is no mention how this occurred but nonetheless it happened and caused Mr. Martinez’ condition to worsen. If it wasn’t for a therapist checking on him, Mr. Martinez could have died, instead he was found and able to receive treatment to preserve his life. The case study does not mention what procedures were performed once Mr. Martinez went into respiratory failure, but respiratory distress could initially lead to CPR being performed to stabilize him. Based on how badly Mr. Martinez’ deteriorated would determine the next course of action to save his life.
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