Comments from the Case Study

Posted: September 9th, 2013

Comments from the Case Study

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Comments from the Case Study

Writer 1

Healthcare workers are not only concerned with the patients immediate concerns, but they also seek to learn more about the patients past, since this can affect the health of the patient. Some of the events can lead to whistle blowing, especially in cases of neglect and abuse. The Care Quality Commission ensures that all health institutions provide quality medical care to the patients and protects patients from abuse. It has the power to enforce its policies and standards on those who fail to provide quality care. Reporting unethical practices to the commission will ensure that the responsible healthcare worker is taken care of as required by the law. The media is a powerful tool in reporting such cases, and it should be used as a last option. Healthcare workers are sometimes intimidated by their superiors and they find it difficult to report unethical practices in the organization. Healthcare workers should not fear retaliation, and fear of this should not make them assume or ignore the poor practices going on within the healthcare setting. They should be confident in the government, and they should take confident in the number of laws passed by the government, aimed at protecting whistle blowers. The laws protect the workers against discrimination and retaliation. They enable employees to warn and provide notifications to those who are engaged in poor and unethical practices. They ensure that the employees can seek further action after whistle blowing. Therefore, the employees who report unethical practices should be confident that they will not experience any retaliation, once they have spoken out and blown the whistle against these practices.

Writer 2

Healthcare workers act as their patients’ advocates in many settings. They protect the patients from their unethical colleagues. They also protect their patients from their families or others who have the responsibility of taking care of them. This is especially the case with the vulnerable groups such as children and the aged, who may not be in a position to report what is happening to them. This requires the healthcare professionals to be keen on what is going on in their patients lives. Some healthcare institutions do not seem to be too concerned about maintaining good reputation, and all they care about is making profits. This is especially the case with the institutions, which provide much-needed services in their area of operations. The institutions may feel that the patients have no choice other than seek their services, and this leads them to engage in malpractices and unethical behaviors. Shady Rest Nursing Home does not seem to be overly concerned about their patients, and they do not care about stopping the abuses. This is clear from their lack of positive response after the allegations were made, and from the continued abuse of the patients. The hospital administrator was more concerned about his social connections and networks, than he was about his employees. He was unprofessional because he let his social life determine his professional standards. This undermined his professionalism, and it contributed to his unethical behavior. He threatened and intimidated his employee, and he did not seem to realize that the employee was protected by the law. The administrator is a reflection of the people in the society who, though not engaged in malpractices themselves, they support those who do, and this leads to increased cases of unethical behavior in the profession. This undermines the efforts by the various bodies in ending unethical practices, not only in the healthcare profession, but also in other sectors. Those who are engaged in the unethical practices feel that they can continue with their behavior since they have people who support them. In many cases, such people hold considerable power, and their actions are rarely reported.