Ethics Discussions

Ethics Discussions Competency: What It Is, What It Is Not, and Why It Matters 137 first and foremost question that must be resolved in deciding whether one will respect or override a patient’s refusal. There is no single definition of competency, and there are many different ways of stating the concepts involved in that term. The term competent is nothing more than a label we place on a person when we conclude that we should allow him or her to make the decision at issue. Generally, we apply the label to the person who understands his or her condition and the consequences of the choices and whose reasons make sense to us. Sometimes, however, especially in cases of religious refusals and First Amendment considerations, we apply the term competent to persons who base their refusal on irrational beliefs as long as those beliefs are within our common religious experience and do not seem too strange. In making determinations of competency and in forcing treatment on others, we are engaging in serious matters. We should not avoid these decisions, however. We must use our experience of the human condition and our best judgment in the attempt to make proper decisions. As long as we make these decisions with proper motives and a proper understanding of the task, we make them properly. Although these decisions might be difficult in individual cases, we should make them without unnecessary concern or doubt, because in doing so we are doing all that can properly be done. We are, after all, simply human beings attempting to make very difficult decisions relating to other human beings. m QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. What demographic changes or healthcare practices might increase the need to determine patient competence in the future? 2. How do the principles of patient autonomy and beneficence conflict when making healthcare decisions that run counter to the patient’s choice? 3. Why is it important for a healthcare professional to have a guideline for deciding patient competence? 4. In competency cases, how important is it to listen to the patient and clarify his or her wishes? Would you want more than one person to interview the patient? 5. What ethical theories support making a treatment decision for a patient even when he or she does not want treatment? FOOD FOR THOUGHT The issue of determining patient competency is never easy and will continue to be challenging to healthcare professionals. Consider the changes that the aging of the American population will bring. After considering this chapter and the principles of ethics you have studied, what is the best advice you can give about determining patient competency in a way that is ethical? PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET AN AMAZING DISCOUNT :)