In my major, which is nursing, professionals share the view of patient-centered care. This places the patient at the forefront of every decision made about that patient’s care, and puts the final say on decisions with the patient. This also entails working together as one cohesive health care team, what we would call the interprofessional or interdisciplinary team. This means that different professions must work together in order to provide care for the patient, which differs from the past, where the doctors might work separate from the nurse, who works separate from the dietician, and so on and so forth. The expectation of leaders in this field is that each leader among the different disciplines do their best to provide the highest possible standard of care with the patient’s desires in mind. Also, in patient-centered-care, the patients themselves can be viewed as leaders, driving the direction of their own care. It is the understanding that each of the disciplines in a team working with a patient is a “leader” in their own field of health care, with the common goal of providing the best possible care for a patient, which shortens hospital stays for that patient and reduces the chance for errors, which can result in longer stays and hospital acquired conditions. Sometimes, however, ethical dilemmas can come about through the paradigm of patient centered care. For example, the patients have the right to refuse any medication or treatment they want to, even if it means improving their condition or saving their life. Also, another ethical dilemma exists after the diagnosis of a patient, in disclosing information about that patient’s condition. The patient has the right to inform or withhold information about their condition from anyone, including family members and other loved ones, even if that knowledge could lead to loved ones being tested for their likelihood to contract the same condition. Ultimately, in order to show ethical leadership in the field of nursing, or in any health care-related field today, means to put patient’s desires and requests first when at all possible, no matter what medical knowledge or training might tell you. This is the current paradigm shared by health care professionals, the world of patient-centered care.
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Erin
2/1/2015 02:03:14 am
Doctors and nursing are absolutely considered leaders within the medical field. Advocating for patients, looking for new solutions to problems, and not making assumptions are key to professionalism and advancement of knowledge. It is interesting that regardless of the medical training and advice of health care professionals, the patient is the person empowered to make the decision about his or her health. What qualities then are necessary for nurses to help inform and care for the patient? What leadership attributes do you hope to have?
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Sam
2/2/2015 03:02:05 am
Thank you for an interesting post, Adam. Having a specialty most certainly makes one a leader. As doctors are specialist in different areas, it makes sense that they are leaders as well. I was intrigued by the ethics that doctors encounter because sometimes it isn't always our call what is the "right" thing to do. Sometimes we have to respect other's wishes, even if we would do things differently. I challenge you to share this in discussion with the class because I think others can benefit from this side of ethics.
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