The consecration of the patient’s autonomy

Type :

Term papers

Pages :

11 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

01/12/2009

Category :

Science & technology

Sub category :

Medical studies

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Summary :

The consecration of the patient's autonomy.
1. Legal background.
2. The Competent patient and DNAR orders.
3. The involvement of 'the close to the patient'.
4. The incompetents and DNAR orders.
5. The children and the young persons.
The persisting patriarcalism.
1. The reluctance to apply the guidelines.
2. But patriarcalism is quite softened by different measures.
Conclusion: Is there any need for legislation.
Bibliography.

Abstract

Pain, suffering and death are to some extent, inevitable in human life, though Health care must always seek to eliminate unnecessary suffering and untimely death. But it is easy to recognise that prolonging the process of dying us often undesirable. The difficulty encountered by medical teams is to establish and act accordingly to a general policy free from prejudices and subjective judgments. Failure of the cardiac and respiratory functions is part of dying; CPR can theoretically be attempted on every individual prior to death. But, from settings to settings, situation differs; sometimes it is not appropriate to prevent death to occur. A decision not to attempt resuscitation applies only to CPR; it does not imply "non treatment" and overall treatment and care that are appropriate for the patient will continue to be considered and offered. It is important to underline the difference of DNAR with other withdrawals of treatment because people can be misjudged about them:
As the law stands, assisted suicide and all similar processes whereby one person hastens another's death are illegal. Doctors and nurses can ensure that the patient is receiving enough pain relief to keep him comfortable; it is illegal for them to give him more than he needs with the intention of ending his life more quickly. The British Medical Association [BMA], in conjunction with the Royal College of Nursing [RCN] and the Resuscitation Council [UK] produced a first set of guidance on decisions relating to CPR in 1999, in order to offer a frame to the medical practitioners and to identify key ethical and legal issues . Less than two years after, in March 2001, the same organisms, edited an updated new set of guidelines, quite different.