5. Provide an ethical conclusion which compares expected positive with negative consequences including an estimate as to whether net utility will rise or fall. 

Answers:

Introduction

It would be correct to say that ethics is an important part of personal and professional life. The objective of this paper is to discuss an ethical case study that was presented in the media. The paper would discuss the ethical case of life support system for Childs. The media article, ‘Parents fighting to keep baby alive lose high court battle’, presented that doctors can withdraw life-support treatment from a sick baby boy against his parents’ wishes, a high court judge has ruled. This is an ethical problem, as parents may not want doctors to remove the life support system. However, doctors may want to do the same for long-term benefits. The key stakeholders in this case are parents of the child, doctors or hospitals, and government. This is indeed an ethical problem for doctors and hospitals and this ethical problem can also vary based on different communities and regions. Challenges for community health nurses could definitely relate to the geographic location and to the beliefs of that particular area (cultural competence) (Weiss & Malone, 2016).  A thorough assessment of the environment would prove to be beneficial in knowing how to address and treat the patients of a specific area.  For instance, a similar community of parents would be easy to address as I feel that I could talk with and teach parents whether it be at a ballgame or an assembly.  long way with the recipient being receptive to the teaching.  Possible solutions to the challenges that unfold say in a different community could first be addressed by a thorough assessment and by establishing common ground (Pritchard & Englehardt, 2015).

Solutions to these ethical challenges are for the nurses and doctors to study and get to know more about culture and customs of people they are working with. Find out more about the resources that are available to the community. Get to know the people and their families on a one to one basis as much as possible. 

Facts & Key Assumptions

The media article presents some facts about the case and there are few assumptions that could be made about the case. The analysis in the paper is based on the data and facts presented in the case. The key assumptions and facts can be discussed as:

• A small kid (Charlie) was admitted with a serious case in the hospital. After initial investigation, doctors figured out that Charlie had a condition that could not be treated.
• Doctors wanted to remove the life support system for the Child. However, parents wanted to shift the child to United States of America for further investigation. The parents were even willing for the experimentation on the child and it was believed that it would also contribute to research and development.
• Parents took the case to court; however, the judge ruled in the favor of hospital and doctors. The judge has ruled that the hospital has the legal right to remove the childcare life support system from child.
• The family has decided to appeal against the ruling given by court. The family has decided to go to the higher court.
• It is assumed that the child had a critical illness that could not be treated. There are not any medical solutions that can treat the child.
• It is assumed that doctors have tried their level best to save the child. The doctors also want to save the child. However, its getting beyond their capabilities and they know for sure that this illness can not be treated.
• It is assumed that doctor want best for child and family members and they do not have any personal agenda or biasness to make the decision.

Analysis

The ethical dilemma in this case can be explained with the perceptive of various ethical theories. The two key ethical theories that are used in this paper to explain the ethical dilemma are Utilitarianism theory and Kant’s categorical imperative theory. These theories and the application of these theories on the ethical dilemma can be discussed as:

Utilitarianism theory

Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that states that the best action is the one that maximizes utility. This theory can be considered as a version of consequentialism, which states that the consequences of any action are the only standard of right and wrong. Our society evolves and so does the challenges of public health nursing (Grant & Arjoon, 2017). Each community will be different. Some will try to keep it as intact and some will drastically change. The result of utilitarianism ethical theory can give different results based on the application. For example, the theory can provide different output for hospitals and different for family. From the hospital point of view, educating the people on ways to live healthier and be proactive in ways to maintain health are great qualities in a healthy environment. Changing the mindset and making small, simple lifestyle changes can enhance health and prolong life (Cropley, 2014). There are only two main consequences for this ethical dilemma:

• Consequence 1: The child’s life support system is removed. The hospital has the legal right to remove the child care support system.
• Consequence 2: The child’s life support is not removed and parents take the child to USA for further treatment.

The application of Utilitarianism theory from parents’ point of view would suggest that consequence 1 should be the course of action as it provides maximum utility for parents. The application of Utilitarianism theory from hospital point of view suggests that consequence 2 should be the recommended course of action.

Kant’s categorical imperative

Kant’s categorical imperative denotes an absolute, unconditional requirement that must be obeyed in all circumstances and is justified as an end in itself. Both the stakeholders (hospital and family) can have similar expectations from this model only when both community members and people from medical fraternity are on same page. A logical first step in establishing a partnership with a community to help reshape their goals into a preventative mindset and Healthy Community living would be to assess their ideas for their own community (Filip & Saheba, 2016). It can happen only when the health care professionals inform the society members about the health care community in large. A Healthy Community is a community that continuous looks to create and improve both its physical and social states. It should provide activities, locations, services that help people provide support for one another or develop skills and activities of daily living.  What that means to me is that healthy places should have the necessary requirements to improve a person's quality of life.  Within the borders of a Healthy community should be aspects of work, worship, learning, play, healthcare, and places to obtain items required for everyday living.

Conclusion

The above paper discusses the ethical dilemma of child support system for a child who was born with a rare case of medical condition. Although there are different definitions and qualifications for a healthy community, they all revolve around having a strong commitment within the community and relying upon the ethical systems as well as government to help aid the communities to reach where they need to be.

The difference between Utilitarianism and Kant’s perceptive could be explained with reference to the theory itself. The Utilitarianism states that the step should increase the personal utility (Murphy, 2015). However, the Kant’s theory is more absolute in nature. From a perspective of external stakeholder, the Kant’s theory appears to be more practice in nature as compared to Utilitarianism theory (Ward, 2015).

Personally, I like Utilitarianism theory more as it is based on personal beliefs. The application of this theory would at least give a felling to parents that they tried and they did everything that they could have done. As a community, ethical barriers that face many when providing care for patients maybe problematic when being faced with other cultural barriers and or beliefs as well as languages. One benefit is that there is from being one community is the vast exposure of different cultures. It appears that the Kant theory is more practical in nature (Weiss & Malone, 2016). However, the parents would want the best treatment for their child and there is no force that should stop them to get the best treatment. This is the reason that I would personally prefer Utilitarianism theory to the Kant theory.

References

Cropley, D.H., 2014. Engineering, ethics and creativity: N’er the twain shall meet. The ethics of creativity, pp.152-169.

Davies, C. 2017. Parents fighting to keep baby alive lose high court battle. The Guardian. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/apr/11/parents-fighting-to-keep-baby-charlie-gard-life-support-lose-high-court-battle

Filip, I., Saheba, N., Wick, B. and Amir Radfar, M.D., 2016. Morality and Ethical Theories in the Context of Human Behavior. Ethics & Medicine, 32(2), p.83.

Grant, P., Arjoon, S. and McGhee, P., 2017. Reconciling Ethical Theory and Practice: Toward Developing a Business Ethics Pedagogical Model. Business and Professional Ethics Journal, 36(1), pp.41-65.

Murphy, K.C., 2015. Ethical crisis communication on social media: Combining situational crisis communication theory, stakeholder theory, & Kant's categorical imperatives (Doctoral dissertation, Gonzaga University).

Pritchard, M.S. and Englehardt, E.E., 2015. Ethical Theories and Teaching Engineering Ethics. In Contemporary Ethical Issues in Engineering (pp. 111-120). IGI Global.

Ward, B., 2015. Emerging technology and ethical innovation: a case study approach to developing entrepreneurial decision making. Journal of Ethics & Entrepreneurship, 5(2), p.103.

Weiss, S.M., Malone, R.E., Merighi, J.R. and Benner, P., 2016. Economism, efficiency, and the moral ecology of good nursing practice. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research Archive, 34(2).