The healthcare profession is highly grounded in ethical and legal standards that ensure the welfare of both patient and healthcare provider. Since care providers often focus on the promotion of life and well-being, ethical and legal standards ensure that this aspect is well-achieved. Autonomy is one such egal and ethical standard that promotes patient satisfaction while ensuring that the health care provider adheres to professional demands. Autonomy can take the legal and ethical form especially when dealing with patient issues that present dilemmas to the care provider. It would be critical to analyze how autonomy can present itself ethically and legally when dealing with children and adult patients.
Children present a special population for health care providers and this could mean the increased risk of ethical and legal issues. Patient autonomy dictates the freedom a patient holds in making medical decisions without being influenced on coerced by the healthcare provider. Even when the issue may mainly lean towards the patient, care providers may encounter barriers in their autonomy especially when dealing with children. As minors, children may depend on their parents and guardians to make health related decisions on their behalf. While exercising this requirement, parents my infringe on the freedom of medical practitioners to make decisions while dealing with children. Sarkoohijabalbarezi et al. (2017) indicate that medical practitioners are likely to encounter moral distress when dealing with children because the care provider’s autonomy often faces resistance form parents and guardians. This could largely contribute negatively to a practitioner’s mental health as he or she is often in distress when dealing with children. One the other hand, Beykmirza and Negarandeh (2017) show that when medical practitioners engage closely with parents, through the provision of support and information, sufficient education, informing parents about the treatment plan and encouraging parental participation in the treatment process will ensure the promotion of autonomy in parent. This promotion of autonomy will ensure to promote trust and peace of mind for the patients, their families and the practitioner.
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Legally, patient autonomy will ensure that the patient is given room to make decision and in return such an action decreases the probability of legal liability for the medical practitioner. Sivalingam (2011) states that autonomy in medical practitioners means that adult patients will make informed decisions on their treatment options. Autonomy as exercised by the service provider means that he or she lays out all the possible options for the patient and includes advantages, disadvantages and risks of all possible decisions at the client’s disposal. When they make well-informed decisions, the probability of legal issues coming up during the practitioner-patient engagement is greatly reduced. Autonomy could as contribute to the development of serious legal issues between parents and health care institutions. Nealy (1995) provides the experience of Baby K and her care institution against her mother Ms. H. Baby K was born with anencephaly and this meant she could not survive more than 3 days after birth. Despite this knowledge, her mother Ms. H. insisted her daughter remained on life support. The institution did not find this ethical or legal and therefore sought the help of the court when Ms. H. refused to change her mind. The case presented frustration and mental distress for the care providers and the mother too.
These legal and ethical instances of autonomy are indicative of everyday occurrences in any health care profession and clinical practice. Insight into such happenings would lead to awareness on the care providers part and ensure that he or she is cautious to identify such issues and act according to professional standards. The information could help prevent any legal liabilities for the practitioner and health institution while helping promote health standards set at the state level.
References
Beykmirza, R., & Negarandeh, R. (2017). What are the factors influencing nurses to neglect patients’ autonomy and decision-making?. Nursing Practice Today , 4 (4), 212-215.
Nealy, E. A. (1995). Medical decision-making for children: A struggle for autonomy. SMUL Rev. , 49 , 133.
Sarkoohijabalbarezi, Z., Ghodousi, A., & Davaridolatabadi, E. (2017). The relationship between professional autonomy and moral distress among nurses working in children's units and pediatric intensive care wards. International Journal of Nursing Sciences , 4 (2), 117-121.
Sivalingam, N. (2011). Medical Paternalism and Patient Autonomy; the dualism doctors contend with. Med J Malaysia , 66 (5), 421-2.
