Demonstration of Proficiency

Should patients be legally allowed to have help in this endeavor? If suicide itself is not morally wrong, at least in cases like these, is it wrong for another person to directly help bring about the patient’s death? Is it wrong for doctors, a role we naturally associate with healing and the promotion of life, to use their medical expertise to deliberately end a patient’s life if the patient wants this?
Demonstration of Proficiency
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

• Competency 1: Articulate ethical issues in health care.
  • Articulate the moral issues associated with limiting life support.
• Competency 2: Apply sound ethical thinking related to a health care issue.
  • Demonstrate sound ethical thinking and relevant ethical principles when considering limiting life support.
  • Explain important considerations that arise when contemplating limiting life support.
• Competency 5: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and respectful of the diversity, dignity, and integrity of others and is consistent with health care professionals.
  • Exhibit proficiency in clear and effective academic writing skills.
• Preparation
• Case Study: Mr. Martinez.                              Mr. Martinez was a seventy-five-year-old chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patient. He was in the hospital because of an upper respiratory tract infection. He and his wife had requested that CPR not be performed should he require it. A DNR order was written in the charts. In his room on the third floor, he was being maintained with antibiotics, fluids, and oxygen and seemed to be doing better. However, Mr. Martinez’s oxygen was inadvertently turned up, and this caused him to go into respiratory failure. When found by the therapist, he was in terrible distress and lay gasping in his bed.
• This media piece provides the context for this assessment; make sure you have reviewed the case study thoroughly.
  Additionally, it may be useful to think through the following issues as they relate to Mr. Martinez’s case:
• Should Mr. Martinez be transferred to intensive care, where his respiratory failure can be treated by a ventilator, and by CPR if necessary, and his oxygen level can be monitored?
  • What are the key ethical issues or models at play in this case study?
  • What are the key end-of-life issues at play in this case study?
  • How can an understanding of models and best-practice help to guide health care practitioners to make ethical and legal decisions?
• Instructions
  In a 2–3 page analysis of the case study, address the following:
• The patient’s directives.
• The patient’s quality of life.
• The family’s stated preferences.
• The moral issues associated with limiting life support.
• The ethical principles most relevant to reaching an ethically sound decision.
• Important considerations such as implications, justifications, and any conflicts of interest that might arise because of the patient’s respiratory failure.