Module 6 Essay Review Questions
Instructions
Read Buchbinder, chapter 15.
Answer the Discussion Questions on pages 531-532 (questions 1-12) of your text in essay format.
Use a minimum of 2 scholarly sources listed in APA format. See attached tutorial for assistance with APA.
1. Provide several examples of legal behavior and ethical behavior. In whatinstances are the two similar, and in what instances are they different?
2. H ow do the legal concepts discussed in this chapter, that is, criminal, tort, civil, and so on, work to dictate the ways in which organizations must operate?
3. As you think about the new health care reform bill, what type of lawmakingaction instituted it? In other words, was it developed from the common law, executive order, or legislative process? W as this the best way to institute the new reform? E xplain your answer.
4. T hink of several examples of both ethical and legal circumstances where you can apply the concepts of beneficence and nonmaleficence. H ow do these concepts work within your examples to provide protection to both the organization and the patient?
5. T here are numerous end-of-life issues that we have all heard about in thenews, but how are these laws established? Is it okay for a patient and provider to make these decisions on their own, outside of the law? Aren’t these privileged physician–patient decisions?
6. W hat do you see for the future of health care reform as the law applies? W illhealth care reform spawn new laws, or will new laws be enacted to guide reform?
7. R eturn to the tort section in your text and answer the following questionbased on the information provided by the chapter. Is reporting child abuse a legal obligation or an ethical one? D oes it matter what your position is within the organization, i.e., nurse, manager, clerk, and so on? W hat if you find out about child abuse from a patient encounter, but the law does not allow you to report from the official record? D o you have an ethical obligation to do so?
8. L ook back at T able 15-2 and try to determine where tort and contract law come together and in what areas there may be conflict between law and ethics. E xplain your thinking and final decisions.
9. In thinking about biomedical issues, address the following questions: H ow dowe decide which patient will receive an organ transplant? C an we be positive that a particular combination of genetics, age, demographics, and lifestyle factors will enable one person to have a longer and more productive life than another? Should we be influenced by the available level of family support, or by the family’s need to be involved in a relative’s care? H ow can a health care organization best reflect the ethical preferences of its community while abiding by the law? Should the ability to have care reimbursed affect the decision to provide it?
10. W hy have “R ight to T ry” laws been more successful than right to die laws?
11. Is an expansion of E MT AL A policies better or worse for patients?
12. Stephen H awking, the world-renowned physicist, and occasional guest staron a popular comedy T V show was diagnosed with motor neuron disease in
1963 at the age of 21 and was given two years to live
(http://www.hawking.org.uk/). A scientific genius with a literary flair and a wicked sense of humor, he has survived and thrived despite what physicians told him. W hich ethical principles do you hypothesize his specialists were following when they advised him and his young wife to get his affairs in order?
