As a doctor you faced a dilemma and had to make an ethical choice. Summarize your thoughts in a diary entry. Comment on global health ethic
Answers
Answer:
Health workers from any discipline regularly face ethical challenges.When considering ethical issues, it is advised that you follow a stepwise approach in your decision-making process
Recognize there is an issue
Identify the problem and who is involved
Consider the relevant facts, laws and principle. In this example you are required to ask yourself the following questions.
What should we do?
Why should we do it?
How should we do it?
Who should do it?
An ethical dilemma describes a conflict between two morally correct courses of action. There is a conflict between values or principles. The dilemma is that you would be doing something right and wrong at the same time.
Answer:
Explanation:
Sir,
The unexpected and unprecedented challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted tremendous strain on health care resources, even in developed countries. The sheer magnitude of numbers coupled with high virulence of the infection has triggered country wide lockdowns across vast swathes of the globe. One group expected to work as usual in these trying times are health care workers and, therefore, the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of frontline health care workers is gaining legitimate attention (Ayanian, 2020; Lai et al., 2020). In this regard, we point out a few moral and ethical dilemmas that can be faced by health care workers (HCW) while attending the call of duty:
1.
Dilemma 1 – How to balance my ethical duty to care for my patient against genuine concerns of contracting COVID-19 and spreading it to my family? These concerns are likely to be more pronounced among health care workers with aged parents or young children. To some extent, these concerns are also fuelled by limited availability of personal protective equipment (PPE), inequitable distribution of available equipment and limited and constantly changing recommendations on usage of masks and other PPE.
2.
Dilemma 2 – Should I retain ventilatory support for a critical patient who is unlikely to survive or use the ventilator for a less critical patient with better prognosis? As much as doctors are bound by the Hippocratic oath that entrusts every doctor to treat all sick patients to the best of their abilities, in times such as these, triaging of finite resources is a pragmatic consideration. Consequently, frontline HCW’s may find themselves in an unpleasant situation where they have to make a choice of allocating scant resources for those who need them the most