Question

Read Chapter 14, and discuss the following case to the best of your abilities:

CASE OF ANNE AND THE RUNAWAY STROLLER

Anne, a 75-year-old woman suffering from late-stage Alzheimer’s disease was walking to a neighborhood restaurant holding on to the arm of her husband and a friend. Suddenly, a young woman, talking on her cell phone as she was running behind a stroller containing a young baby, ran toward Anne, veering to the side at the last second and then continued on her run. The quick movement of the stroller startled Anne who then fell onto the cement sidewalk. Her friend, a nurse, could tell by the angle of her leg that Anne had probably broken her hip. Her husband called an ambulance which arrived in 10 minutes. Anne was taken to a new city hospital where she was diagnosed in the ER with a broken hip.

Anne was immediately admitted to a room across from the nursing station, which had an open design, allowing her to be observed at all times. The nurses were frequently in her room to assess her condition. In addition, her room contained a built-in bed for close relatives to stay overnight.

Anne had surgery the day after she was admitted. Her family came to take turns in spending time with her in the room so that Anne was never alone. The protocol, or clinical plan of treatment, that the hospital used for all hip surgery patients was started immediately. She was up in a chair the day after surgery and started walking with assistance a short time later. The nursing staff and a discharge planner met with Anne’s husband and family, explaining the care she would need. Four days after surgery, Anne was discharged to a nursing home where she spent a week until her insurance coverage ran out. She then went home and received home healthcare a few hours a day for several weeks. However, her husband and children did provide much of the care when she sent home.

A month after surgery, Anne was walking with some assistance—but without a limp or pain. In other words, a late-stage Alzheimer’s patient had the same care and good results as other hip fracture patients have come to expect(Fremgen, 2016, p. 354).

Do you believe that a patient with late-stage Alzheimer’s disease should have an expensive hip replacement surgery? Or would it be more practical for a patient at her age and mental condition to have her hip immobilized instead of repairing it with surgery?

Do you believe that having Anne released from the hospital so early was an undue burden on her family?

What do you think about the care given to Anne, as well as the design of the hospital, in this case?

Do you believe that the woman who startled Anne and caused her to fall bears any responsibility for Anne’s injury?

Discuss how the statement, “First, do no harm” impacts your chosen profession.

Explain the use of the term “injury” as it relates to a case of fraud.

Important Notice: Your professor will consider these characteristics when assessing the quality and level of student participation.

Submit initial post(s) early in the session and subsequent responses to the posts of other learners at timely intervals throughout the duration of the session. The goal is to have a dynamic discussion around the topic that lasts throughout the entire session.

Your original post should be within a range of 75-150 words. If a post does not meet the minimum word count of 75, your professor will not count it toward your grade.

Your subsequent contributions responding to a classmate should have 50 to 100 words.

Book: Medical Law and Ethics by Bonnie F. Fremgen - Fifth Edition

Answer 1

1. Every individual has the right to get treatment . It is one of the human rights. Getting treatment for any disease condition does not depend on the pre existing disease condition ,caste colour ,creed, religion etc . It's the ethical right to treat everyone equally. Here, justice plays an important role . In this case when Anne had a hip fracture she has the right to get treatment for fracture although , she has a late stage Alzheimer's disease, because it's not written any where in the legal rights that a person who has a mental condition or a pre existing medical condition can't take treatment for any secondary disease or physiological condition. Instead it's the ethical right of medical professionals to provide care to every individual irrespective of any discrimination . Not only I , everyone should believe that it's the correct step/ decision taken by the health professionals and her husband to undergo surgery for fracture . It's not only being practical , it's the right of Anne, just because she is having late stage alzheimers nobody can deny her the right to get treatment . You can't leave a person in such a painful miserable condition just because she is having an late stage medical condition( physical or mental ) and whether it's a en expensive or inexpensive treatment we should try our best to save the life of an individual when there are wide chances available. So, rather keeping the part immobilized ,surgery is the correct decision made by the family and the health care members.

2. No, according to me ,discharge after four days of surgery does not caused any burden on the family as the main moto of the early discharge was to make both the family and the patient independent ,to be able to take care of themselves and also home is preferred rather than hospital by everyone for early recovery.They were not send directly to home after four days , first they were in nursing home where they were provided training on how to take care of Anne ,what are the complications ,how to tackle them ,when to seek help ,when to reach hospital, about the diet plan ,about the exercises , physiotherapy etc. After being trained fully about the care they were send home so that both the family and Ann's can take care of themselves independently.

3. The women who startled Anne has the basic right or on the basis of humanity should have asked and come to Anne when she fall down on the cement path . It was her responsibility to take her to the hospital and provide her the treatment. It's just same as one of the ethical right in medical profession" Non Beneficence" means doing no harm to a patient ,in layman's term atleast do not harm other people when you cannot do good for them. Legal actions has to be taken against the women, but it depends upon the patient whether she wants to take legal action towards the women or not.

4. When the term inury is used for any fraud purpose to gain money from other person who is irresponsible or a gamble is enacted to take money from innocent people then legal actions must be taken against the fraudulent and punishment in terms of imprisonment and fine must be imposed on them .