Reference no: EM133030122

The Legal Aspects of Compliance in Healthcare

Read the following three scenarios. Comment on and discuss all scenarios in the discussion board.

1. A 64-year-old woman with MS is hospitalized. The team feels she may need to be placed on a feeding tube soon to assure adequate nourishment. They ask the patient about this in the morning and she agrees. However, in the evening (before the tube has been placed), the patient becomes disoriented and seems confused about her decision to have the feeding tube placed. She tells the team she doesn't want it in. They revisit the question in the morning, when the patient is again lucid. Unable to recall her state of mind from the previous evening, the patient again agrees to the procedure.

2. A 55-year-old man has a 3-month history of chest pain and fainting spells. You feel his symptoms merit cardiac catheterization. You explain the risks and potential benefits to him and include your assessment of his likely prognosis without the intervention. He is able to demonstrate that he understands all of this but refuses the intervention. Can he do that, legally? Should you leave it at that?

3. The hospital emergency room is presented with a sick child accompanied by a neighbor. The parents are unavailable, but the neighbor pleads with the nurse on duty to get the child treated. The child's condition is serious, but the physician on duty cannot tell how serious without doing tests and beginning treatment. The hospital must decide either to treat the child or not to treat the child.