Bioethical Principles in Medical Science Essay

The principlist approach to biomedical ethics is understood on the basis of two central theses. The first thesis is that moral principles are non-absolute and that they do not occur in a determinate order of precedence. This means that every single principle is prima facie. These prima facie principles are; beneficence, respect for autonomy, non-maleficence and justice. The second central thesis, usually called the global applicability thesis, posits that the four prima facie principles derived from common morality make principlism universally applicable. Analysis of ethical questions based on the biomedical principles of ethics is central to moral reasoning while at the same time respects exigencies of circumstance and liberates pluralism (Beauchamp & Childress 14; Herissone-Kelly 65). Since this application of ethical principles is sensitive to moral beliefs encountered in everyday lives, it forms the basis of ethics in biomedical practice. It acts as a guide to action even though the four principles do not operate in a determinate order of precedence. In attempting to discern the ethics of physician assisted suicide one central question comes into mind. Is assisted suicide morally justified? In a nutshell, assisted suicide or more specifically, physician assisted suicide, refers to a case where the patient has ended his life either with a lethal dose or any other medically provided instrument after the patient requested for the lethal dosage from the physician who provided the dosage for the specific reason of ending the life. The difference between euthanasia and assisted suicide is that in the case of euthanasia, it is the physician who administers the lethal dose or withdraws the life support system because the patient in question is unable to administer the same to him/herself. Thus, the difference lies in the difference in who makes the action that precedes death. In assisted suicide, it is the patient who acts last. The choice of taking the lethal dosage or pushing the button that will terminate life solely rests with the patient and they have the capacity to alter their decision before their actions become irreversible. Even though the physician plays a causal role in both; the patient kills him/herself in assisted suicide while in the latter, it is the physician who kills the patient. This difference creates an intrinsic moral difference between the two. This brings into question the principle of respect for autonomy. The moral principle of respect for autonomy refers to a patient’s freedom of liberty or choice interests. However, it should not be confused with an all-for-nothing phenomenon. Gradations of autonomy and its interpretation in different circumstances are variable. A patient’s autonomy can be interfered with when there is excessive control (too much interference with the patient’s decisions) or when there is too little interference (neglect of the patient). Respect for an individual’s autonomy is also threatened in cases where an individual’s right contravenes another individual’s freedom of choice and their actions (Brent 40). With respect to assisted suicide, the patient in question having satisfied the qualifications of making an informed consent can request the causal assistance of the physician to carry out actions that directly lead to their death. In such a case, professional codes of ethics bind physicians to respect the patient’s rights to self determination by unobstructing the conditions for the operation of an autonomous action such as: intentionality, understanding, and the complete absence of any controlling influence. In a situation where all these conditions are met and the physician dutifully performs their causal roles, physician assisted suicide is ethically correct. This is so because so long as the patient’s rights are supported it automatically follows that ethical permissibility of assisted suicide is also granted (Weir 89; http://www. deathreference. com/). In cases whether the patient is suffering from a treatable clinical depression or dementia which impair the decision making capacity of the patient, the right to self determination do not apply (http://www. inclusiondaily. com/). The moral principle of Non maleficence hold that a person should not do harm. It specifically holds that one should have the capacity to discern actions that are morally harmful. However, there is controversy as determining the intention behind an action. At the same time, determining whether an intentional or unintentional action refrains from action harms or puts the subject at a risk of harm. The moral principle of beneficence entails the following obligations: to prevent harm, to eliminate harm, and to do good. These three conditions characterize the measures taken by medical practitioners to balance the components of risks, harms and benefits. Beneficence therefore encompasses professional, personal and societal obligations (Brent 41). The principle of beneficence largely builds on the foundational principle of non maleficence. In this case assisted suicide is ethically permissible on the basis of an individual’s well being. It can be argued that in such a case, to promoting and protecting the patients well being may be contradictory to the patient’s right to self determination. However, this is not so. Life is often is perceived as being good and its value is a product of our pursuit of goods within life itself. In an assisted suicide scenario, a person who is fully competent to reach a decision decides that life sustaining treatments no longer has any benefit but has become a burden. Most of these patients are often critically ill, dying or in a very debilitated and severely compromised state. If such patients request the means to end their lives, it is in line with non maleficence or beneficence because such an act is value to the patient’s life. Unless if the patient is unable to reach a competent decision and the dictatorial authority transferred to a surrogate, the right of self determination stands and is not in contradiction to the principles of non maleficence and maleficence(Weir 90). Moreover, such a decision is only ethical if it does not infringe on the moral and professional values of the physician. Additionally, assisted suicide is an act of compassion that eliminates further suffering and pain. Refusal to grant the patient their claim or entitlement is akin to putting them to unbearable suffering. Finally, the moral principle of justice simply refers to fairness. It is the act of receiving one’s due; entitlement or claim. Distributive justice concerns itself with how fairly benefits can be allocated and distributed. Basically, four considerations guide moral justice. For instance, an equal share, according to a persons need, according to a person’s effort, and lastly, according to societal contribution (Brent 42). Physician assisted suicide is supported by the moral principle of justice in the context of â€Å"treat like cases alike† (http://depts. washington. edu/). When competent but terminally ill patients request lethal dose medications or refuse life sustaining treatments with the sole purpose of hastening death, it is only just that they should be granted their claim. However, these arguments are only suitable when the ethics of assisted suicide is analyzed on a basis of the biomedical ethical principles. Works Cited BBC News. Assisted suicide ‘danger’ claim. April 20, 2009. http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8008736. stm Beauchamp, Tom L, & Childress, James F. Principles of biomedical ethics. Oxford University Press, 2001; 1-23 Brent, Nancy J. Nurses and the law: a guide to principles and applications. 2nd Edition. Elsevier Health Sciences, 2000; 40-47 Reynolds, Dave. Assisted Suicide’s For Mental Illness, Too, Swiss Court Rules. Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide, Eugenics, Bioethics. Inclusion Daily Express. February 5, 2007. http://www. inclusiondaily. com/archives/07/02/05/020507sweuth. htm Encyclopedia of Death and Dying. Bioethics. http://www. deathreference. com/A-Bi/Bioethics. html Harrison-Kelly, Peter. The Principlist approach to bioethics, and its stormy journey overseas. in, â€Å"Scratching the surface of bioethics†, By Matti Hayry, Tuija Takala. Rodopi Press, 2003; 65-72 Physician-Assisted Suicide. Ethics in Medicine. University of Washington School of Medicine. http://depts. washington. edu/bioethx/topics/pas. html Weir, Robert F. Physician-assisted suicide. Indiana University Press, 1997; 86-97

A Modest Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

A Modest Proposal - Essay Example Jonathan uses numerous techniques complete his writing. This power of satire portrays to the lack of morality and expedience of how Ireland's dealings are managed. The lack of authority held by the Irish people springs from the extensive amount of power the English Protestants held over the Irish, especially the penal laws imposed upon the Irish Catholics. Jonathan uses this truth to exploit his prominent satire and eventually to suggest the consumption of the babies of deprived Irish mothers. The author uses satire severely in his writing. One of the most apparent uses of satire Jonathan uses is when he talks about the likely English response to his suggestion. He claims, "Maybe I could name a nation, which would be happy to consume our whole country." Here, Jonathan is reflecting the degree to which the English had power over the Irish. The basis of his proposal centers in the notion of consuming the newborns, as food, is no mistake.This idea was selected in order to symbolize the collapse of Ireland through the "consuming" power the English had over the Irish. This made the Irish seem as powerless as infants (Smith 138). At one point, while making his suggestion, Jonathan guarantees the politicians who dislike his approach that the deprived people of Ireland would rather surrender their life than experience the everlasting scene of misfortunes. While Jonathan is giving his suggestions to the ruling class, he ironically represents the hardships as being the sole liability of the poor (Smith 140). Jonathan is talking to the politicians who have denied the Irish Catholics some of their rights, but he argues that the Irish are repressing their landlords by not settling their rent on time. The author contradicted himself at this point. The satire, of course, was the immense economic cruelty imposed on the Irish by the English through agricultural protectionism and other things. Jonathan’s use of satire, in his writing, serves to portray, to the English lea ders, the reality of the circumstances that they are subjecting to the people of Ireland. However, despite Swift's obvious dislike for the English, he, at some instances, also partly blames the Irish for the conditions of the country. Specifically, his depiction on the part of the Irish is what appears to trouble Jonathan the most (Smith 140). While a person might assume that Irish Catholics should have united to deal with English, they instead fell victim to forfeited certain liberties and land seizures. Jonathan asserts that his suggestion will greatly reduce the number of papists, who stay, at home, to deliver the empire to the Pretender. It is obvious that Jonathan does not, in fact, believe that the papists are exploiting the Protestants. However, I feel that he is attacking the Irish Catholics for not trying to take back their nation from them. Jonathan argues that the Irish have gladly handed their nation over to the English, and that makes them the most treacherous enemies t o Ireland (Smith 140). Throughout the writing, Jonathan, when talking about the Irish infants, uses terms as if he were describing farm animals. Phrases and words such as pigs, stock, flesh, cattle and carcass, were all present in

Description of the Work as a Support Worker in Health and Social Care Assignment

Description of the Work as a Support Worker in Health and Social Care - Assignment Example Moreover, apart from conducting the above-stated activity, I focused on how to enhance my communication skills, as there lays the requirement of communicating with the people of the community in order to make them learn about varied complex needs within a particular community. My job profile, as a support worker specifically in health and social care segment, also includes supporting the people towards solving their respective diverse learning difficulties. It will be vital to mention that serving the people living in a community who are severely ill and in the condition of dying, is also one of my job roles as a support worker in the respective segment. These job roles are usually performed by making dynamic team efforts with the incorporation of individual professional skills (Prime Care, 2010). Apart from my work as a support worker in health and social care segment, I also perform the job roles of a fashion stylist. In this regard, as a fashion stylist, I had to communicate with the clients in order to make them aware of the new fashion trends. Especially mentioning, as a leader, I need to supervise the performance of my teammates and encourage their team spirit in order to gain professional excellence by highly satisfying the clients with better execution of my professional skills (Gradireland, 2012). Furthermore, in relation to the work of a fashion stylist, I often had to perform the job role of an image consultant, which requires greater development in professional skills while advising the clients to make them aware about the dresses that would best suit them. Thus, in order to perform the above-stated job roles, there lays the requirement of developing excellent communication skills in order to become an effective fashion stylist consultant. Especially mentioning my job profile as a fashion stylist demands as the role of a team leader for supervising my subordinates in delivering quality services to the client.  Ã‚  

The role of Project Management to an Organization Essay

The role of Project Management to an Organization - Essay Example The project management cycle undergoes a five-step approach; they are initiation, planning, execution, monitoring/control and closure. Initiation is a process involving the giving of an overview of how the project looks like, and the strategy implemented in the organizations plan. This is done to achieve the desired results and in addition, it is where a project manager is appointed to guide the rest of project members due to his or her experience and skills. Planning is the second step, which includes risk assessment alongside defining the system used in order complete the plan. Execution and control are the third and fourth step respectively, which involves planning a solution used for the implementation of solving problems noted in the requirements of a project. Closure, which is the fifth and last step, involves a manager ensuring the little things in a project receive a proper conclusion, when the formal project review is written.The benefits attained from a good project managem ent includes, a delivery service that is better and efficient since, it provides a â€Å"roadmap† that can be easily followed for the purposes of project completion. The other benefit is, customer satisfaction is improved, increased and enhanced such that, when a project is completed in good time a customer can be happy and recommend you for more work. The third benefit is that, service delivery is made effective and enhanced. The improvement of growth and development of a team is another benefit. since, when a project yields positive results, a team commands much respect and inspires the team to work harder. A greater competitive and standing edge is another benefit when a good project is implemented. The other benefits will include better flexibility, increase in quality and quantity and increased risk assessment. As mentioned earlier, planning is the second phase for any project management cycle to be successful. It includes a breakdown and assignment that should be detailed of the task in your project from the time it commences to the time it ends. It involves taking risks of the assessment and being able to define the steps needed for the successful of a task completion. Research is an important factor in planning because it gives a chance of choosing

The Green Revolution Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Green Revolution - Assignment Example During winter, I could specialize in wearing warm clothes instead of depending on heaters. I could resolve to using only the type of entertainment systems I am interested in at a particular time for example either a music system, radio or television. In addition, I could set the temperature of my water heater so that water cannot be heated to more than 120 iF. The California Energy Commission (2004) describes energy efficiency as doing the same job but using less energy. In this case, I could change my cooking methods for example using a crock pot or microwave and preparing several portions at once that will be packed separately and frozen for later use. I could also avoid making many dishes for one meal. Instead, I could make one-dish meals. Instead of using a drier to dry utensils, I could allow them to dry in the utensil. I could invest in energy efficient appliances for example shifting from using incandescent bulbs into using compact fluorescent lights (CFLs). If my heating coal supply came from Russia prices of electricity will change. According to Rosner (2009), the US produces more coal than Russia. This means it is cheaper to use this coal produced in the US than to import it from Russia. Importing coal will mean higher costs of production hence higher prices for electricity. One environmental law that is currently under debate before a state government is the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, EBPC Act, 1999. This is the main piece of legislation on the environment in Australia. It provided the Australian government with powers to regulate significant matters of biodiversity conservation and national environment. I support the reformation of this law because it will increase the effectiveness of the government in modern Australia. According to the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (2011), the reform will make environmental conservation the foundation of

WHAT ARE THE PURCHASING ADDING VALUES TO A COMPANY AND WHAT CORE Assignment

WHAT ARE THE PURCHASING ADDING VALUES TO A COMPANY AND WHAT CORE PURCHASING ACTIVITIES CAN BE DONE TO MAXMIZE COMPANY'S PROFITABLITY - Assignment Example In the manufacturing sector, it is generally accepted that the value of inputs materials forms a high percentage of the ultimate product price – to the extent of as much as 60% and even more in highly competitive industries. In companies that execute major construction projects in the different engineering fields like civil, metallurgical/other process plants, power plants etc. the value of inputs will be equally high. In this background, the importance of economizing and strategizing procurement can not be over-emphasized. This essay examines the various aspects of procurement, developments in this professional activity and the scope for maximizing profits. In a regular manufacturing company, depending upon sales forecast, production plans and budgets are drawn up and these help the Procurement to anticipate and plan the routine as well as non-recurring purchases. Purchasing activities can be broadly identified as tendering, bid evaluation, negotiations, vendor selection, ordering and follow up. Make or buy decisions are taken at strategic management meetings and once a decision is taken to procure an item from vendors, Procurement receives the requests for purchase along with quantities and specifications. Tendering for non-standard purchases is more time consuming and involves calling for quotations based on buyer’s specifications and terms like quantities, delivery schedule, supply conditions, payment terms, guarantees and warranties etc. Quotations are evaluated for technical and commercial comparison and to identify the preliminary list of suppliers for further discussions. Negotiations cover the technical specifications as well as other terms that differ from tender documents and to arrive at mutually acceptable terms of supply. Based on the success of such negotiations, one or more suppliers are selected and the purchase orders for going ahead with the supplies are issued. Regular follow up is part of the

Describe the particular business and its operations, as well as Essay

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