For a long time, I have believed that a hospital is one of the areas where professionals should carry themselves with the highest level of professionalism and virtue. As professionals dealing with sick people who are desperate to have their life turn back to normal, they, therefore, be accorded with respect and dignity because many have their lives at stake. Furthermore, the healthcare professionals, through an oath, have accepted to put the interest of the patients before theirs. However, when I took my aunt to a nearby health facility, I was shocked that indeed healthcare providers can be so cruel to the patients. My aunt was feeling a little bit dizzy, and she had recently contracted a flue that was giving her sleepless nights, and so she asked me to walk her to the nearby hospital for treatment.
On arrival, I was utterly shocked by the length of the queue that was waiting to see the physician. I looked at my watch, and it was around 10 AM in the morning meaning that it was neither the time for breakfast nor was it time for lunch. There were several murmurs from the patients with some alleging that he had been absent for almost an hour just after seeing two patients. Just as people continued with their rants on the queue, an expectant mother suddenly collapsed and there was no medical officer including a nurse or a physician that would help tackle the situation. Because my aunt and I had training in basic life support, we gave her first aid, and luckily she regained consciousness. A casual worker signaled that the doctors were held up in a meeting that was almost over. I was annoyed by this and questioned their decision to hold a meeting, irrespective of its importance, at such a time where patients needed help.
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According to me, this was a breach of professional ethics on the part of the hospital management. Durkheim (2013) illustrated that professional ethics clearly stipulate the personal and corporate standards of behavior that professionals are expected to employ. Doctors undertake the Hippocratic Oath that serves as the basis of their professional ethics. In the oath, they say that a doctor should ‘'either help or do not harm the patient’’ (Mason, Laurie, & Smith, 2013). However, their absence from the care setting jeopardizes this provision because they do not help and further contribute to the harming of the patient. Virtue ethics also calls upon people to employ virtues and moral characters in their day to day endeavors. However, the actions of these medics go against the dictums of the virtue ethics because they do not respect the dignity and the rights of the patients. Death could have easily occurred had we not helped the expectant mother.
Following the incident of the collapsing mother, the meeting suddenly ended, and the doctor-in-charge could be seen running towards our direction. He quickly asked for the mother, and we showed him. He instructed the support staff to call two nurses immediately and informed the mother,' I am going to admit you to the inpatient ward, I am sorry I cannot handle you as a regular patient.'' However, the mother protested and said that she wanted to have her blood sample taken first amongst other medical checkups to ascertain whether she really needed to be ‘'locked in the cage'' as she referred to it. The doctor suddenly became angry, and an exchange of words ensued until the patient was forced to give in to the demands for her own benefit. Here, the doctor showed not only professional but also personal ethics which define the moral character of an individual. It was wrong to argue with a sick person, and above all, patients have the power of autonomy where they are required to decide their course of treatment.
After she the doctor got rid of the patient, he started calling out patients’ name in an irregular pattern that perturbed people. According to the hospital policy, patients would see the doctor in the order in which they arrived. However, we noticed a situation where people, supposedly friends, would be called into the doctor's room and would take a long time before finally getting out. According to me, this was disgusting and the highest form of professional misconduct that should be punished by a court of law. One of the most vital aspects of the virtue ethics is justice (Van Hooft, 2014). Here, justice would stand for equality in care where all patients, regardless of their relationship with the doctor are treated equally. The pattern continued, and unluckily, we had nothing to do but to wait for our chance. However, in my mind, I promised to take action against the rogue officials in the hospital. Other patients in the line suggested that the doctor has been on record for collecting money from patients for those who wanted preferential treatments. Despite that these were only allegations, they further water his moral character and virtue ethics and paint him as a person who is dishonest and corrupt.
After my aunt got the treatment, we decided to tip the office of the attorney general to launch an investigation into the conduct of the doctor and the entire management of the health facility. Luckily, one of the patients had recorded the incident where the expectant mother collapsed and how the doctor exchanged words with her. We further contacted the woman who was now recuperating, and she promised to work with us to ensure that we bring sanity back to the hospital.
References
Durkheim, E. (2013). Professional ethics and civic morals . Routledge.
Mason, K., Laurie, G., & Smith, A. M. (2013). Mason and McCall Smith's law and medical ethics . Oxford University Press.
Van Hooft, S. (2014). Understanding virtue ethics . Routledge.
