Respecting Client Autonomy: Facilitated Suicide

Respecting Client Autonomy: Facilitated Suicide Respecting client’s autonomy is the most important principle for a mental health nurse to follow The clinical entity of suicide is generally subdivided into the three sub-categories of unassisted suicide, facilitated suicide and assisted suicide. (Pabst Battin, M., 1996). The bioethical model considers each of these entities separately. The first category includes all cases where the individual has made an autonomous decision to end their life without the knowledge or assistance of any other person. The facilitated suicide is a very specific group where the victim undertakes suicide in a situation where they have been under the care of a healthcare professional who had knowledge of the potential risk and that means of either suicide prevention or intervention were available but either not used or not considered. There is a clear distinction between this group and the next to be considered, as there is not a suggestion that the healthcare professional did anything positive to assist the suicide attempt, but there is an element or suggestion of neglect or failure of duty on the part of the healthcare professional to protect the patient. (Kupfer J 1990). The assisted suicide is where either a healthcare professional or another person actively assists, either in terms of providing the actual means of death or the knowledge and guidance as to its use, in the death of another. Most arguments aimed at supporting this situation are based on an assumption of rationality and competency on the part of the victim. The majority of such situations, if analysed critically, involve severe pain, disability or occasionally stress, each element has the ability to substantially impair rational thought and decision making. (Salvatore A 2000) Bioethics is the study of value judgements pertaining to human conduct in the area of biology and medicine. It espouses a number of ethical principles which are central to the field but are overlapping, occasionally contradictory and, in the field of suicide in particular, are frankly capable of producing considerable confusion. (Donnelly, J., 1998) We shall briefly consider the main principles that are relevant to this consideration. Perhaps the most central ethical principle to consider is that of autonomy. John Stuart Mill (Mill 1982) produced on of the most celebrated treatises on autonomy, which, taken on face value, allows any individual the right to self-determination of all his actions. In most fields of medical practice the principle of autonomy is considered virtually sacrosanct and explicit personal consent is required for most procedures. (Gillon. R. 1997). The practical difficulty arises when the patient is not â€Å"competent† (a legal term – not an ethical one). The arguments that surround the issue of autonomy in relation to suicide effectively turn on this issue. Those who support the autonomous right to suicide arguing that JS Mill was right, and on the other extreme there are those who oppose it pointing out that anyone who comes to the decision to take their life is, by definition, incompetent (legal definition again) (Coulter A. 2002). Other principles help us further. The Principle of Beneficence (often referred to as the First Principle of Morality), at its most basic level requires the doing of goodness and of being good. This immediately presents the analyst with a problem because the definition of â€Å"goodness† is dependent on both environment and culture. What is considered good in one circumstance may not necessarily be good in another. Critically, beneficence implies that the healthcare professional will have carried out his duties, obligations and responsibilities in a spirit of goodness. (McMillan J 2005) If we also consider the principle of Non-maleficence. Primum non nocere, which literally means â€Å"no malice†. Carrick (P 2000) points to the fact that Hippocrates encapsulated this Principle in his dictum â€Å"first do no harm†. In its more modern interpretation, it means that not only must the healthcare professional do no harm to the patient, but, critically in this regard, they must take all necessary steps to see that no harm comes to the patient. (Dimond. B. 1999). The World Health Organisation widens this interpretation to one which includes a duty to try to minimise any harm which is unintended or accidental. (WHO 1996). There are some circumstances, and these certainly have a bearing on consideration of suicide , where, if a clinician or healthcare professional feels that they cannot do good without the possibility of doing harm, then they should take no action at all. We should note that this is primarily a theorist‘s view and, in the real world it is almost impossible to take any action that does not have the possibility of doing harm to a patient. In conclusion one can agree that, in general terms, autonomy is indeed an important principle for mental health nurse to follow but, in the case of suicide, it is not the most important principle. Mills felt that autonomy required the exhibition of respect, dignity, and choice with the latter being considered generally the most important. Healthcare professionals have to have respect for personal rights. Suicide has to be seen (generally) as the outcome of a number of processes which result in psychological debilitation. The extension of autonomy to such individuals facilitates suicide. It is generally accepted that respect for the individual patient in these circumstances is more usually demonstrated by recognising their vulnerability. It is a common finding that the principles of ethics can be antagonistic. Failure to observe one Principle in order to facilitate another does not render an action necessarily unethical. Beneficence must not be sacrificed for autonomy (Minois, G., 1999) Beneficence is about caring and not just treatment. Every attempt at intervention is warranted. The adoption of the Principle of Non-maleficence calls for the healthcare professional to do whatever is necessary to protect the patient from harm and for whatever it takes to assure the clients life. (Rich K et al. 2004) It is generally a mistake to consider that the ethical requirements and the legal requirements in these circumstances are the same. The law sets a minimum set of standards, ethics requires considerably more. We could conclude by considering the Socratic maxim which is particularly relevant here â€Å"Primum non tacere† (First, do not be silent) References Carrick P 2000 Medical Ethics in the Ancient World Georgetown University press 2000 ISBN: 0878408495 Coulter A. 2002 The autonomous patient. London: The Nuffield Trust, 2002. Dimond. B. 1999. Patients rights and responsibilities and the nurse. 2nd ed. Salisbury.: Quay Books 1999 Donnelly, J., 1998, Introduction, in Suicide:Right or Wrong?, J. Donnelly (ed.), Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus. 1998 Gillon. R. 1997. Autonomy London: Blackwell 1997 Kupfer, Joseph, 1990, Suicide: Its Nature and Moral Evaluation, Journal of Value Inquiry, 24 : 67-81. McMillan J 2005 Doing whats best and best interests BMJ, May 2005 ; 330 : 1069 ; Mill JS 1982 On Liberty, 1982, Harmondsworth: Penguin, p 68. Minois, G., 1999, History of Suicide: Voluntary Death in Western Culture. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 1999 Pabst Battin, M., 1996, The Death Debate. Ethical Issues in Suicide, Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall 1996 Rich K Butts J (2004) Rational suicide: uncertain moral ground, Journal of Advanced nursing 46 (3) ; pp 270-283 Salvatore A 2000 Professional Ethics and Suicide: Toward an Ethical Typology Ethics, Law, and Ageing Review (6) pp. 257-269 WHO 1996 World Health Organisation. 1996 Ethics and health, and quality in health care–report by the director general. Geneva: WHO, 1996. (Document No. EB 97/16.) 25.4.06 PDG Word count 1,245

Math Every Day

It occurs to me that learning mathematics, especially calculus and other forms of higher mathematics, is much like learning a foreign language. Math starts out like a foreign language, having its own symbols, definitions, applications, and structures. It is difficult to use at first and requires repetition, like a new language. One needs to memorize symbols, their functions and many rules, and then one needs to practice by working many problems. Learners cannot be comfortable with new languages (mathematics) until they can use it repeatedly, consistently, and successfully. Calculus, or a new language, is already existent and the learner needs to adapt to it and work in it; the new material will not adapt to the learner. One learns a language by listening to others and by reading, using a dictionary, learning the language rules, and what breaks any or all of those rules. Calculus is similar. After much practice, students can communicate with others in their new language and expand their abilities with more practice and use, just as in mathematics. Those with a good foundation via formal instruction are clearly better at than those that pick it up here and there, intermittently.   The first can be understood and the second become lost. Less well-trained learners are limited in the range and layering of meaning their communication can involve and do not have the tools for even higher levels of language (mathematics) learning. A strong foundation prepares the new language speaker or the new calculus student for the next step in their subject’s discipline and for later innovation, research, and invention in that discipline. Mathematics and language are the same — They have formulas and patterns; they are communication and they are beautiful (e.g. fractal patterns and poetry). Perhaps this is the reason that the films â€Å"Close encounters of the third kind† used music (very mathematical) and â€Å"Contact† used mathematics as the forms of communication that proved successful between aliens and earth people.

Groups, Teams, and Conflict Essay

Strategies There are various strategies available to aid in effective team building. One step is developing a recruiting strategy that supports the organization’s diversity goals. Volunteering time to organizations that serve the needs of underrepresented segments of the population is another way to enhance your company’s reputation as an employer that values diversity. Another step that can be used is by registering the organization with local job agencies, such as the local Workforce Center. The organization can also contact universities, trade schools and other academic institutions with information about the company and keep them informed of job openings they can post for graduating students. Organizations can also create partnerships with national and local organizations to promote the company’s image. It can also help to participate in industry events, and include employees in the company’s current workforce who represent various forms of diversity. The organization should not limit its definition of diversity to race, color, sex, national origin or religion but should expand its concept of diversity to include multi-generational diversity as well as diversity in work styles and cultures. One of the most important strategies is to construct work teams with diversity in mind. Whenever possible, the organization should assign employees to work on teams together who otherwise would not have the opportunity to work together. They should assemble groups of people who represent varied work styles, generations, skills and culture and encourage collaboration and synergy among employees through embracing differences (Huebsch, 2013). Challenges One of the biggest challenges with diversity is misconception. Most people associate the word diversity with multicultural issues, but it also covers  the differences in age, sex, sexual orientation, religion, background, and even position of power. Failing to recognize this can result in accidental discrimination against certain groups. Several types of workplace diversity challenges exist. These issues can strengthen a company or ruin one. Communication is essential to diversity in the workplace. Every person and cultural group communicates differently, which can be the biggest challenge of a diversified team. Sometimes employees misinterpret tone, e-mails, and body language, and fail to respond appropriately. Employees that resist change can be a significant diversity barrier. If someone has been raised a certain way, it can be difficult to adapt overnight. Having one resistant employee can throw off the organization’s balance. An organization benefits more when its manager is on board with major decisions for maximum results. Diversity will not work without a supportive manager (Holt, 2013). Conclusion The best way for an organization to determine which strategy works best for, is by looking at the success of the team and ultimately how the organization benefits from the teams work. As we all know, there will be challenges with any team/group because you have different people from different backgrounds, different personalities, and different outlooks on life. However, if the organization can get each member to recognize that their success ultimately depends on the success of the company, I believe that the diversity of the group will no longer be a primary issue. Instead each team member will begin to pay more attention to the work and less about the differences of each team member in regard to themselves. Once the organization begins to benefit from the team’s success, it will be evident that the strategy chosen is a success. References Holt, M. (2013). Workplace Diversity Challenges. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/create-diverse-workplace-10154.html Huebsch, R. (2013). Workplace Diversity Strategy. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/workplace-diversity-strategy-4925.html

An Exploratory Study of Internal Control and Fraud...

Jaya Kumar Shanmugam, Mohd Hassan Che Haat Azwadi Ali http://cscjournals.org/csc/manuscript/Journals/IJBRM/volume3/ Issue2/IJBRM-75.pdf An Exploratory Study of Internal Control and Fraud Prevention Measures in SMEs Jaya Kumar Shanmugam Department of Accounting and Finance Faculty of Management and Economics Universiti Malaysia Terengganu 21030 Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia jaya_jkumar@yahoo.com Mohd Hassan Che Haat Department of Accounting and Finance Faculty of Management and Economics Universiti Malaysia Terengganu 21030 Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia hassan@umt.edu.my Azwadi Ali Department of Accounting and Finance Faculty of Management and Economics Universiti Malaysia Terengganu 21030 Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia†¦show more content†¦The value of fraud reported in the survey period was RM63.95 million. Not all respondents disclosed information on the number of fraud incidents or the value of fraud detected (15 percent of the 85 respondents responded they were victims of fraud were unsure of the number of incident whereas 53 percent were unsure of the value of financial losses due to fraud). Hence, this suggests that losses may be far bigger than the disclosed amounts of the 56 percent of respondents who reported some form of recovery of assets that were misappropriated, 43 percent reported partial recovery while 13 percent reported full recovery. On the other hand, the number of identity fraud (when the person knowingly or intentionally obtains personal identifying information of another person and using it) victims increased by 12 percent in 2009 a nd the amount of fraud increased by 12.5 percent. This is the highest rate of increase in the seven years that the company has been issuing the report since 2002. New account fraud represents 39 percent of all 2009 fraud cases, versus 33 percent in 2008. Many of these fraudulent accounts were opened online. New account fraud is not limited to credit card accounts. Fraudulent cell phone accounts make up 29 percent of total new account fraud. Existing credit cards are also highly targeted, making up 75Show MoreRelatedResearch on Internal Audit Participate in Risk Management-Based on the Erm Framework of Coso20007 Words   |  81 PagesSchool of Management, University of Glamorgan Research on Internal Audit Participate in Risk Management-Based on the ERM Framework of COSO By: Weichen Zhu Candidate no: September 2012 Supervised by: The dissertation is submitted as part of the requirement for the award of Masters of Science: Declaration This Dissertation has been prepared on the basis of my own work and that where other published and unpublished source materials have been used, these have been acknowledgedRead MoreCore Banking Solutions12901 Words   |  52 Pagessoon. The process has already started. However it is still in its infancy stage. There are a number of issues like the tie-ups to enter into, the monetary issues, the comparative advantages over the huge costs involved. Keeping this in view an exploratory research approach has been adopted. This research tends to explore the concerned issues. For the purpose of this project work, the requisite data may be collected from . Secondary Data Sources. REGIONAL RURAL BANKS Regional Rural Banks are establishedRead MoreWhat Are the Impacts of Rfid in Oil and Gas Supply Chain Management?21195 Words   |  85 Pagesto provide solution to SCM problems. Despite these enormous advantages of RFID the draw backs; are cost; privacy issues and this study have tried to look at all the issues from all sides. The research was conducted using secondary research to gather information on both SCM and RFID technology. After in-depth study, the research was also able to pull out case studies in oil and gas companies to analyze the impact of RFID in oil and gas supply chain management. In the final analysis, secondary