USA community Hospital has been experiencing a continuous presence of both ethical and legal issues embedded in its daily activities. This has since put the hospital under continuous scrutiny from the health care governing body. With several cases of staff misconduct, unethical behavior and deviations from the healthcare standards, several cases and complaints have been reported by the patients, and not much has been done to better the situation. Having been appointed as the top healthcare administrator, I have been put to task to ensure ethical and legal standards of the healthcare system are followed. Having worked in the hospital for the last five years, I am convinced that I understand the ethical and legal areas that need to be addressed. I am determined to maintain the professionalism in the hospital while at the same time setting up the right channel for complaints. I must also investigate and prove any complain of misconduct brought against the hospital by the patients. To maintain a better healthcare system, proper compliance program, complaints reporting and investigative channels as well as ethical, legal and professionalism needs to be the main concern of any community hospital.
USA Community Hospital take with seriousness all the complaints by the patients. This is because it is the role of the hospital to give good care to the patients and their satisfaction will obviously determine the success of the hospital. We have put in place a case review team that deals with the complaints of the patients. Several patients and their families have been reported to complain of delays in receiving services, lack of communication from the healthcare specialists as well as lack of privacy for the patients’ information. Other patients are reported to complain that their personal health information gets leaked to the public, a situation we know goes against the violation of the professional code of conduct of the health system. To improve the service delivery of the USA Community Hospital, the hospital has developed a complaint and recommendation box where the patients who feel dissatisfied with the way the hospital handles patients can launch a complaint. The hospital has the policy to respond quickly to the complaints and concerns of the patients. Upon receiving concerns from the patients, the case review team conducts investigations to identify the validity of the claims. The team then gives their report to the management for the appropriate action to be taken to prevent such future claims.
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Upon receiving the validity of the claim from the review team, USA Community Hospital can respond in several ways while at the same time taking appropriate mechanisms to solve the problem promptly. The hospital will first apologize to the affected patients and their families and promise them that such an action will never repeat. The patients who raised concerns will be contacted, and their concerns listened to before being given an apology for the inconveniences caused. Secondly, the patients who did not receive the kind of care they wanted due to the negligence of the hospital staff will be given the necessary care they need. The third step is to correct the problem at the service point. Here, the hospital identifies the exact problem and the cause. For example, if our patients complain of taking too much time to receive treatment at the facility, the case review team investigate the matter to identify whether the delay is due to the negligence of the staff or understaffing. If the cause is found to be due to the hospital being understaffed, a meeting with the hospital management board will be held to discuss the need to add more medical staff.
A case review committee formed will include at least eight members designated by the hospital administration while at the same time including other outside members such as a quality health expert, a volunteer and a community member identified by the hospital as useful in the process. The work of this case review committee will be to analyze the complaints by the patients, confirm their validity and make recommendations to the hospital on the best measures to take. However, the identities of the people who bring up the complaints will be kept private to avoid any possibility of bad blood between the staff and the patients. If some hospital staff is found to have violated their professional code of conduct by the review team, swift action will be taken, including disciplinary actions against the affected staff members. This process will help improve the quality of service delivery at the USA Community Hospital while at the same time promoting accountability and reputation of the hospital when it comes to handling the patients.
In the medical practice, negligence is considered malpractice and can be punishable by law ( Pozgar, 2014) . The staff of the USA Community Hospital is trained on the possible consequences that might arise when they act negligently. As hospital staff, they have the duty of care restored upon them. Any breach of this duty is, therefore, a violation of the duty and can result in lawsuit especially if it causes injury to the patients. They are personally liable for any act of negligence. All employees at USA Community Hospital are expected by the hospital to act according to the professional code of conduct. The hospital has put in place certain disciplinary measures to deal with workers who act unethically and does not offer the services to the patients as required of them. These measures include suspension, firing and even taking legal actions. But before any disciplinary action, proper investigations must be done by the case review committee, and proof of misconduct must be availed. Following the previous cases of complaints that the hospital has received, review of certain policies is also necessary to ensure proper service delivery. Certain policies dealing with how patients should be handled must be reviewed to make the policies clear to the employees. Unless employees understand what is required of them, they will constantly violate certain codes of the professional, a situation which will negatively impact on the health outcome of the patients.
Different staffing levels at USA Community Hospital is useful to the employees in making good decisions regarding the patients care, ethics and adhering to the professional code of conduct. Different staffing levels act as a check and balancing system for the hospital. First, having different staffing levels improves accountability. Each staffing level is designed to handle certain responsibilities for which they are held accountable for any unethical behavior or misconduct. It also promotes employees self-monitoring where employees act to monitor fellow employees; reducing chances of any misconduct. Many individuals will stand up for what is morally right, and even the few who might want to bring in some elements of unethical behavior will tend to avoid it. Furthermore, staffing levels promote easy supervision and enhance a balancing system. The administrator will easily check up on the employees and how they are handling the patients’ needs. This eliminates any chance of unethical behavior or other forms of professional misconduct.
Handling patients with care and dignity are one of the main concerns for the USA Community Hospital, and anything that goes against this mission is taken with the due seriousness that it deserves. It is expected of the staff to report any cases of patients’ mishandling by colleagues. All employees are encouraged to be free and share their decisions as well as question anything they see that is against the ethical policy of the hospital.
As the head of the health administration, maintaining professionalism and ethical code of conduct is a crucial responsibility. The staff must also stick to the ethical policy of the hospital which is well known to all the staff members. Similarly, they must adhere to the professional code of conduct that guides the health profession. At all times, the staff should make personal commitment to take care of the patients to the best of their ability. Trust is key to improving the health outcome of the patients, and as a result, the professionals must win the trust of patients through quality care, acting ethically and treating them with the dignity and respect they deserve. USA Community Hospital has policies and regulations that guide the conduct of every staff. While hiring, the hospital presents these policies to every staff so that as they work, they are aware of what is required of them.
The hospital has, therefore, put its staff on different levels to help minimize the chances of unethical behavior and misconduct by the employees. Through this, the hospital aims at promoting better service delivery to the clients by making the patients monitor themselves. Increased accountability is a key to achieving better staff productivity. Any misconduct or unethical behavior can be reported by fellow workers, a situation that minimizes the chances of misconduct.
There are certainly ethical and professional boundaries within which a healthcare professional must not cross while dealing with the patients. Such limits enable the therapeutic relationship to occur between the patients and the medical professional while it also ensures that the interest of the patient is always given priority. All the patients in the USA Community Hospital are treated with respect and dignity they deserve. The employees always ensure that the private information of the employees is protected, and no employee ever discriminates a client while being treated. All healthcare professional has the ethical duty and legal obligations to offer the best care to all the clients including those with HIV/AIDS. USA Community Hospital offers equal treatment and services to all patients and protects the patients’ health privacy from the public. A medical professional at USA Community Hospital is required to handle all patients’ private information with care.
Knowing the legal actions that can be brought against the hospital for denying the HIV/AIDS patients treatment or revealing their medical conditions, all staffs at the USA Community Hospital have been trained on how to provide care for these patients. No patient can be turned away from the hospital due to his/her HIV/AIDS status. Similarly, the information concerning the health condition of the HIV/AIDS patients must remain private. Turning away a patient who needs an emergency medical care amounts to negligence and the hospital can be held liable for the injury caused. It is the right of all patients to keep confidential their medical information and such should not be shared by anyone without the permission of the patient. Sharing this information amounts to the violation of the rights of the patients and can result in lawsuits.
The hospital has resorted to using certain measures to ensure HIV/AIDS patients, as well as other patients, receive the services they require and that their medical information is always kept confidential. The hospital has decided to take employees through the annual training regarding the rights of the patients. Also, employees are undertaken through the HIPPA rights as well as legal ramifications for violating the policies and procedures of the profession. The hospital has a policy for protecting the confidentiality of HIV/AIDS patients. When a patient tests HIV/AIDS positive, the hospital submits the results to the state health department for monitoring. After this, all the patients HIV/AIDS information such as name and address will be deleted from the hospital system.
The Code of Medical Ethics states that the major objective of the medical profession is to offer services to the clients with full respect and human dignity. It is unethical and illegal for a medical professional to refuse to offer services to a client because of the health conditions ( Doherty & Purtilo, 2015). Such acts may amount to serious professional misconduct. The Code of Medical Ethics also prescribes the legal way through which a patient with HIV will be notified ( Board 2014) . Once they test positive, they must be notified using the legal set procedure, and such a patient should not be isolated. Any isolation is against the law and amounts to misconduct. Similarly, a patient must be consulted before the HIV/AIDS information is shared with any professional or a family member ( Cerit & Dinç, 2013) . Such records must be kept confidential failure to which the hospital will be held liable for the legal violation and ethical misconduct. USA Community Hospital ensures that all these regulations and code of ethics are followed.
USA Community Hospital gives al the HIV/AIDS patients the best treatment that they require. The hospital is determined to make these patients feel loved, cared for and as part of the society. The hospital has implemented certain evidence-based programs that are aimed at delivering better care for the HIV/AIDS patients and reduce stigmatization. First, the hospital has a program for counseling and emotional support for the HIV/AIDS patients together with their families. This program helps make these patients feel loved and cared for just like any other person. Secondly, the hospital has set up a wellness program and medical treatment where it helps the HIV/AIDS patients keep their immune system strong and fight opportunistic infections. This program ensures that HIV/AIDS patients receive free medical treatment for boosting their immune system and make them live longer ( Friedland, Renwick & McColl, 2014) . In addition to this, the hospital also offers Antiretroviral drugs to these patients on a regular basis while at the same time doing a follow up to ensure that the patient uses the drugs as prescribed. This is important in ensuring al HIV patients appropriately use their drugs. Also, USA Community Hospital has a program which organizes for the grants and food parcels to the HIV/AIDS patients who come from poor backgrounds to help them survive as they take their drugs. The family members of the patients are advised to remind the patients when it is time for taking drugs so that they don’t forget. The hospital also conducts an anti-stigmatization campaign to members of the society so that they are taught the need to offer care for the HIV/AIDS patients. All these programs have helped improve the health outcomes of the HIV/AIDS patients at USA Community Hospital.
In conclusion, USA Community Hospital is currently putting up the necessary measures to ensure it gives its patients the best care. The hospital ensures all medical staffs act according to the professional code of conduct and adhere to the ethics of the profession. It is the hospital’s belief in quality care for all patients and the mission to be one of the leading healthcare providers that drive the organization going. Without care, professionalism and ethical conduct, the medical profession will be unable to achieve its objective of a healthy community.
References
Board, B. A. C. (2014). Professional and ethical compliance code for behavior analysts. Pearson.
Cerit, B., & Dinç, L. (2013). Ethical decision-making and professional behavior among nurses: a correlational study. Nursing ethics , 20 (2), 200-212.
Doherty, R. F., & Purtilo, R. B. (2015). Ethical Dimensions in the Health Professions-E-Book . Elsevier Health Sciences.
Friedland, J., Renwick, R., & McColl, M. (2014). Coping and social support as determinants of quality of life in HIV/AIDS. AIDS care , 8 (1), 15-32.
Pozgar, G. D. (2014). Legal and ethical issues for health professionals . Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
