?In your project this week, you will explore advanced directives, torts and your role in healthcare while respecting patient’s rights. You will be evaluated on each project on the accuracy of your responses, the completeness of your responses, your ability to think critically about each situation and your overall writing ability. Your responses to the questions below should be constructed in complete sentences using proper grammar, spelling and punctuation. In addition to the grading standards found in the syllabus, projects will also be graded on accuracy and application of course materials.
Each answer should be at least one paragraph in length, include supporting facts from the textbook, and an in-text citation. Your project should be submitted to the Dropbox by the end of Unit 4. Name: Unit 4 Project Questions 1. What is the purpose of having an advance directive? The purpose of an Advance Directive is allowing you as a patient to tell the health care provider and family what you future choices are. As a result, your healthcare team will know what your wishes are in case you become unable to express them.
This is an opportunity to put your wishes in writing while you are able to make decisions. “These documents include living wills, durable power of attorney, and organ donation. Self-determination documents provide protection for both the patient and the physician. ” 2. There are four types of advanced directives listed in your text. Please list and describe three of them: Living will: “A document that a person drafts before becoming incompetent or unable to make healthcare decisions. ” Living wills are not just for older adults.
Unexpected end-of-life situations can happen at any age, so it’s important for all adults to have advance directives. Durable Power of attorney: “A legal document that empowers another person (proxy) to make healthcare decisions for healthcare for incompetent patient. It goes into effect after the person becomes incompetent and only pertains to healthcare decisions. ” The person who creates the power of attorney is called a grantor and can only happen when they are in competent mental capacity. Uniform Anatomical Gift: “All states have some form of this law.
It allows persons 18 years or older and of sound mind to make a gift of any part of their body for purposes of medical research or transplantation. ” This also provides that in absence of such a document, a surviving spouse, or if there is no spouse, a list of specific relatives in order of preference, can make the gift. This act also prohibits trafficking in human organs for profit from donations for transplant or therapy. Do not resuscitate (DNR) order: “This is an order into a person’s medical chart or medical record.
It indicates that the person does not wish to be resuscitated if breathing stops. ” This is sometimes called “no code” and is a legal order written either in the hospital or on a legal form to respect the wishes of a patient not to undergo CPR if their heart were to stop or they were to stop breathing. 3. What is the purpose of the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act? This act allows a person 18 years or older and of sound mind to make a gift of any or all body parts for purpose of organ transplantation or medical research. The statute includes two specific safeguards.
One, a physician who is not involved in the transplant must determine the time of death and two, no money is allowed to change hands for the organ transplant. 4. Does the patient in this case have a right to an advance directive? Why or why not? Yes I believe the patient has the right to an advance directive. The patient may provide a living will in which he states what he would like to be done with him/her during their healthcare. And also provide a proxy in order to make sure their wishes are carried out in which they state. 5.
Does the patient in this case have a right to refuse treatment? Why or why not? It is a well-accepted legal principle that adults with decision-making capacity have the right to consent to or refuse medical treatment, even if the refusal results in death. The Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA) is a federal law that affirms the rights of adults to make treatment decisions, including the right to refuse treatment. It further protects this right in situations in which the person loses decision-making capacity through the preparation of an advance directive.
” Failure to respect the right of refusal could result in liability for assault and battery. ” 6. What should your role as a medical assistant be in this situation? Healthcare professionals must consider a patient’s cultural background when providing healthcare. Health and illness are culturally constructed concepts that frame people’s responses to diagnosis and treatment. In today’s medical world complete disclosure on the diagnosis or prognosis is considered essential in good clinical care and is supported by certain laws.
Some cultures do not value this concept; in which they prefer that family members communicated directly with the healthcare team regarding the diagnosis and treatment. 1. If surgery was to be performed on the patient without his consent, what type of tort would you classify this action as? (assault, battery, fraud, defamation of character, false imprisonment or invasion of privacy) Why? The type of tort in which this would fall under is the battery tort.
The reason is the patient may have given consent to a surgical procedure, but while the patient is under the surgeon performs a surgical task that the patient was not aware of or did not consent to. 2. Would you classify the action to be an intentional or unintentional tort? Why? This would be considered an intentional tort. The reason being intentional is that the doctor knew what the surgical procedure was to curtail and consented by the patient. He then proceeded to surgically remove, alter or fix what was not consented and whether it needed to be fixed or removed it was up to the patient.
If the surgeon was performing a surgery and had a complication, than they could proceed and it would not be a case of battery. 3. Would this be considered a matter of civil or criminal law? Why? This tort would be considered a matter of the civil law. Torts are civil wrongs recognized by law as grounds for a lawsuit. These wrongs then result in an injury or harm constituting the basis for a claim by the injured party. While some torts are also crimes punishable with imprisonment, the primary aim of tort law is to provide relief for the damages incurred and deters others from committing the same harms.
The injured person may sue for an injunction to prevent the continuation of such conduct or form monetary damages. 4. If this situation were to result in a lawsuit, what type of statute would determine how much time the patient would have to file a claim? How much time would a patient have to file a claim in the state in which you reside? The statute of limitations would determine how much time the patient would have to file a claim. For injury the time would be two years in which a patient must file for a lawsuit.