Patient Ethical Dilemmas

The case study outlines a story about a lethargic and stuporous patient with a diagnosis of a cerebrovascular accident. He has no family members, but did have one friend visit him all day, every day from home. In a few days, the staff found out that the friend has growing dementia. The main ethical dilemma here is the lack of a capable person to make the decision about the patient’s medical condition. The solution to the problem should be based on the best interest of the patient. In hospital setting, the principle theme is patient and family-centered care. In this specific situation, it is no different from these principles.
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An ethic is a moral concept of what is right or wrong. An ethical dilemma is a debate between two moral principles, where two sides can argue about
Is there any family member’s name or phone number? Is there any legal paper with the patient such as a living will, durable power of attorney or advance directives which will help the health care providers to make decision according to the legal records? If the there is no legal documents, two physicians are able to sign in the progress notes for emergency treatment. For long-term treatment, a social worker needs to get involved. Besides the nurses, the social workers deals with ethical dilemma in everyday work with different situations. If the patient’s prognosis of physical condition is very poor palliative care team will also need to be considered. The bioethical committee from the hospital may needs to get involved. The state should be notified for the recommendation for guardianship or custodianship who can make decision in the future for any emergency or long-term situations. The ethical committee should also focus the attention to the friend who has growing dementia and who always stays with the patient. The friend may need some kind of counseling and treatment for