HSS 261 Unit 2 – Discussion Board CTU
HSS 261 Unit 2 – Discussion Board CTU
What ethical principles are involved in this case and what are the steps in the ethical decision-making process that the dentist should use to come to an ethical decision?
These are the ethical principles I witnessed the Urgent Care Physician, also the Dentist used to try and help this patient:
I feel Dr. Tapell was very professional in her findings of Mr. Euing’s pain, she did her oral exam, then a Panagraphic X-ray. She practiced beneficence, respect, and autonomy. She explained his three upper left teeth were bad, could have chronic infection, and these teeth needed to be extracted immediately _ in order for Mr. Parker Euing to have relief. Dr. Tapell offered to extract immediately, Mr. Euing I felt wasn’t in urgent pain, he said not today. He did however, ask for pain medication. Dr. Tapell suggested he take ibuprofen every six hours , she explained this was an anti inflammatory which helps with his infection, and use acetaminophen as needed for his pain relief.
If you were the dentist, what do you think is the best ethical decision and why?
Mr. Euing wasn’t satisfied , he was angry, he proclaimed Dr. Tapell wasn’t doing her job. He suggested Vicodin , he’d taken his wife’s,
they seemed to help. Dr Tapell explained Motrin and Tylenol work together in helping with infection and pain. Vicodin wasn’t going to help with the infection, it would be better to take her choice of medication. Mr. Parker went so far as to say mal-practice. I feel she did everything possible for him. Dr. Tapell practiced beneficence, respect , autonomy, and distributed justice. Mr. Euing didn’t have the time to get these teeth extracted, it was his choice to leave. I would have done the exact care of this patient as Dr Tapell did.
Good afternoon,
What ethical principles are involved in this case and what are the steps in the ethical decision making process that the dentist should use to come to an ethical decision?
The ethical principles involved in this case include autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, and veracity. Understanding these principles ensures that the patients needs are met within the ethical guidelines and that the best quality of care is provided. Patient autonomy is crucial when the patient is involved in the decision making process once the patient understands their diagnosis allowing them to make an informed decision. Nonmaleficence means to do no harm which requires the dentist to have the skills and knowledge to treat. Beneficence is the principal that states that the professional have a duty to do good to benefit others. Justice or fairness is delivering care without prejudice and veracity is the principal that involves respect, trust and honesty. The ethical decision making process was well defined in the scenario. The dentist defined the problem by completing an X-ray and an exam. She discussed her findings and gave her recommendations. She provided a couple of potential solutions on how and when the treatment could begin and offered some alternatives. The dentist displayed emotional intelligence and professionalism. She explained the benefits of the medications and the importance of taking these medications until the extractions could be performed. If it is not medically indicated, ethically, the narcotic that the patient is requesting should not be given until after the procedure has been completed.
If you were the dentist, what do you think is the best ethical decision and why?
If I was the dentist, I would have handled this situation in the same manner. As healthcare professionals, we ought to provide safe, timely, effective and efficient patient centered care. The patients expectations are that their healthcare provider is skilled, knowledgeable and trustworthy, therefore, comprehensive, coordinated and high quality care should be provided. This also involves effective communication. Once the patient has received the information regarding their diagnosis, then an informed decision can be made. The best ethical decision in this case involves communicating openly and honestly with the patient regarding the diagnosis, prognosis and stress how important and beneficial the anti-inflammatory medication can be until the extraction is completed and offer a timeline on when the narcotic can be prescribed, which is after the extraction when the narcotic is most beneficial.
Thanks,
The ethical principles that are involved in this case is that it’s always going to be a dilemma. This is because even though you want to do all you can for a patient sometimes that’s not enough. This can make you feel powerless in your profession and make the patient upset. Which tends to have you both on edge at times. Every time a suggestion was made it was as if it wasn’t enough when in all frank it could be.
I feel that if I was the dentist I would have gone about it the same way. Reasoning being that the first suggestion should work because if the pain is as bad as the patient is complaining to be then he could be called off work or something. I would not give anything strong because that only helps for so long and then the patient will be back where they started. When it all boils down to it things could have gone easier if the patient was not in as much pain as he was in. If he would have done what options that was presented then things could have gone very smoothly. This is what happens when things are not taken care of when they should be.
The ethical principles involved in this case the dentist did everything she could on her part to make sure the patient had everything and was offered every appointment that she could but the patient insisted that he gets pain medicine for some reason. She tried stating that ibuprofen has a anti-inflammatory just incase he has a infection and he states that he wasted money by going there which the cost covered the X-ray. The doctor should try and calm down the patient and convince him and if he has any further questions or problems come ack to the clinic early the next morning but if the doctor prescribes the narcotic and the patient has a history of abusing the medication she will know what to do and how to treat the patient. If she only prescribes the medicine long enough for treatment the patient already stated he wasn’t able to come in and that his schedule was busy.
Putting myself in the position where I would have to make the decision in treating the patient I would make sure the patient would come for a checkup if I was going to prescribe the pain medicine to him. I would ask to see if he took any other medicine to relieve the pain in his mouth and offer any services that might be able to help him.