Measurement Of Ethical Considerations & Routine Measures In Health Care Essay.

Measurement of Routine Measures on Ethical Consideration

Discuss the measurement of routine measures on ethical consideration and calculation of various routine measures

Clinical ethics is the foremost and important component involving any well-developed and well-established system for the health care provision.  Ethical consideration involves what caregivers must keep in mind and aim at to maintain patient’s dignity, individual rights, and privacy (Ethical Behavior: Care or Knowledge, 2012).

Dignity:   Dignity on healthcare signifies the type of care, in any prospect, which promotes, supports, and does not counteract or destroy a person’s self-esteem, self-respect regardless of any difference. Each and every patient irrespective of his/her gender, caste, or age possess the right to get safe, effective, and high-quality care, which respects and protects their privacy and dignity.  This dignity means that each and every individual is unique, and his dignity can never be relinquished irrespective of illness, ailment, handicap, or death.  Hence, this consideration gave rise to the various ethical norms that every caregiver must follow and should give importance and priority to the patient’s respect for his/her dignity (Leget, 2012).

Individual rights and privacy:  Privacy is the freedom from violation and intrusion and is linked to all the personal information or practices which are sensitive to the person in any respect (Privacy and health care, 2001).  It is the right of every individual to have high-quality care that is safe, effective, and which respects their privacy and dignity.  So, patient’s privacy and confidentiality will always be respected.  It is the duty of all the members involved in patient’s healthcare to protect and keep the personal details and information of the patient safe. It is an offense and against the law to discuss any information related to patient’s case with anyone without the prior consent of the patient. All the vital signs, as well as well medical tests, should be kept confidential (Latour and Albarran, 2012).

Uses in health and social care:        

• Decision making: Ethical consideration results in positive outcomes during healthcare, as it can lead to high patient satisfaction.  Every patient has the right to take their decisions, whether they want to undergo treatment or not.  Patient’s preferences should be considered in all decision making and plans for care and treatment (Levitt, 2014).
• Monitoring the progress: Ethical consideration is useful in monitoring the progress of the treatment.  It emphasizes that whether the care environment is clean, appropriate, and well-maintained for the care group. Moreover, it monitors if the physical environment actively supports privacy and dignity of the patient (Roth, 2011).  
• Legal issues: Human rights in health care carry legal force, which can be applied by judicial action.  Any violation off the ethical principles is a punishable offense.  Various human rights of patients are mentioned in articles related to healthcare.  This legal approach focuses attention on patient-provider relationship and ensures that public health sectors provide benefits and reduces any harm to the patients (Babad and Lubitch, 2011).

 Calculation of various routine measures:

1. Temperature: The foremost vital sign to be measured is the patient's temperature, which quantifies how the heat is generated and eliminated by a body.  Normal body temperature ranges from 97.8 F-99 F.  Any abnormality in the body temperature indicates fever (rise of one degree or more) or hypothermia (below 95 degrees) (Ripple, 2002). Various methods to measure temperature are as follows:

• Oral:This method involves the placement of a thermometer under the patient’s tongue and is measured using a glass thermometer which is read visually or by a digital reading provided by an electronic device.
• Anal:This method involves the lubrication of the glass or digital thermometer which is then placed inside the patient's anus approximately about 1 inch. However, the anal reading is always one degree higher as the anal temperature. This method is preferred for measuring child's temperature.
• Axillary:In this method a glass or digital thermometer is placed under the arm of the patient. However, it will be one degree lower than the reading of the core temperature.
• Tympanic:In this method, a special kind of electronic thermometer needs to be inserted into the patient's ear.
• Skin: This method is the least favored method to measure temperature and involves the use of a strip thermometer to record the patient's skin temperature.
• Temporal:In this method a special device is used which is placed over the patient’s forehead and is swiped along the one side of the patient’s face.

2. Pulse: Pulse rate is the total number of beats per minute. To measure BPM manually, one has to place index as well as middle finger above the wrist of the patient in line by using a thumb. Pulse rate also provides information of heart rhythm and pulse’s strength. The normal range of the pulse is from 60-100 BPM. Any fluctuation in the range indicates illness, injury, emotions, or may be due to exercises (Knowles, 2008).
3. Respiration rate: It is the total number of breaths per minute taken by a person. It is assessed by watching or placing one’s hand on patient’s chest and feeling the total number of rising and falls of the patient’s chest per minute. Normal range is from 12-16 breaths per minute.  Any increase in the range may indicate fever, illness, or any other medical conditions.
4. Blood pressure: It is the amount of the force exerted by the blood present inside the body’s blood vessel. This measurement is useful in determining the functioning of the heart. Blood pressure is measured regarding systolic (contraction of the heart; less than 130) and diastolic (relaxation of heart; less than 85) values.  It measured by using a stethoscope and a cuff (sphygmomanometer). A gauge is present inside the cuff which reads the blood pressure value.  A scale known as mmHg/millimeters of mercury is present inside the gauge that measures the blood vessel’s pressure.  Increase in the blood pressure causes hypertension, which indicates the increase in the risk of the CHF (heart attack) as well as stroke (brain attack). Low blood pressure or hypotension can result in dizziness or lightheadedness.  However, hypotension without any symptoms is not severe (Rosenthal, 2002).
5. Electrocardiography: It is the recordingof heart’s electrical activity over a specific period by placing the electrodes on the body of the patient. The electrodes then detect all the minor electrical changes undergoing on the patient’s skin arising from the depolarization of the heart muscle during every heartbeat. This method detects the cause of chest pain and abnormal heart rhythms.  Any abnormality in the EKG patterns could indicate tachycardia, bradycardia, irregular heartbeats, heart attack, or enlargement of the heart (Das et al., 2009).

Lifestyle can influence health in various ways, and it can be described by lifestyle pattern, lifestyle factor, health, non-communicable diseases (NCD), and prevention. The routine measures indicate important information related to body’s physiological status.  As in above case, the person is 55 year, obese businessman complaining of headaches and chest pain. So, it is important to monitor past medical history to analyze if the condition is inherited or if there is any family history of cardiovascular diseases. As the man is obese hence higher BMI, indicating chances of diabetes, cholesterol, hypertension, etc. Sometimes headaches are caused by the over activity or stress, as the person is a businessman and obese it is necessary for him to do exercises and to maintain a regular healthy diet, but should avoid strenuous exercises as he also complains of chest pain.  Strenuous activities could exacerbate his symptoms. If his headaches are persistent, he should regularly monitor his blood pressure to know if the cause is not hypertension.  Regarding his chest pain, he should undergo EKG for further evaluation (Zarabzadeh et al., 2013).

References

Babad, Y. and Lubitch, A. (2011). Ethical and legal issues of privacy and patient rights in the application of information healthcare delivery systems. International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 12(3/4), p.230.

Das, D., Garg, N., Green, J., Gupta, S. and Suarez, A. (2009). 31: Evaluation of Different Teaching Modalities for EKG Interpretation Among Emergency Medicine Residents. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 54(3), pp.S10-S11.

Ethical Behavior: Care or Knowledge. (2012). Online Journal of Health Ethics, 8.

Knowles, R. (2008). Vital signs. Semiotica, 2008(168).

Latour, J. and Albarran, J. (2012). Privacy, dignity and confidentiality: a time to reflect on practice.Nursing in Critical Care, 17(3), pp.109-111.

Leget, C. (2012). Analyzing dignity: a perspective from the ethics of care. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 16(4), pp.945-952.

Levitt, D. (2014). Ethical decision-making in a caring environment: The four principles and LEADS.Healthcare Management Forum, 27(2), pp.105-107.

Privacy and health care. (2001). Choice Reviews Online, 39(04), pp.39-2233-39-2233.

Ripple, D. (2002). Temperature Measurement [Book Review]. IEEE Instrum. Meas. Mag., 5(3), pp.74-75.

Rosenthal, K. (2002). Monitoring vital signs in vital times. Nursing Management (Springhouse), 33(3), pp.47-48.

Roth, A. (2011). Ethical Progress as Problem-Resolving*. Journal of Political Philosophy, 20(4), pp.384-406.

Zarabzadeh, A., O’Donoghue, J., O’Connor, Y., O’Kane, T., Woodworth, S., Gallagher, J. and O’Connor, S. (2013). Variation in health care providers’ perceptions: decision making based on patient vital signs. Journal of Decision Systems, 22(3), pp.168-189.