Class,
What responses do you have to the readings for today (virtuous physicians, role of nurses, cosmetic surgery, talking to patients) taken together? Are there things that health professionals shouldn't do? Are roles static or dynamic? Do they change depending on what kind of doctor and to the needs/wants of the patients.
I know that there is much more to discuss than just the topic on nurses, but I will start this off talking about nurses just because that is what I know more about since I discussed it in class today. What I thought was very interesting about what I learned with nurses was how much education and training that they go through, they really could do a lot of things that a physician could do. It truly is impressive with how much they can do, but what I find most impressive is the role that they take on by being a nurse. Even though the book was a little stereotypical and biased, it was definitely accurate on how they have to literally become the support of the patient. Reading this really made me grow to appreciate the role of nurse and how much they do for their patients. I really do feel that they are overlooked and may get the short end of the stick, but in the end I know at least for the most part as of today they get and deserve a lot of respect.
ReplyDeleteFrom the prompt above, I definitely think that the role of a nurse might be one of the most dynamic positions in the workforce just due to dealing with some many different situations and so many different people on a day to day basis. Coming from what andy discussed today in class about the different relationships one can create with the patient, I think that it would be very hard to not form a friendship with a nurse especially if the patient is in the hospital for an extended period of time. This could create problems if that connection gets to strong, but I also feel like it would be better to have that strong caring figure for a nurse rather than one that takes on more of a dull character.
I agree completely with Jimmy. The nurse is the face of the hospital to the patient because of the doctor's limited time with each person. Their attitude and actions effect the experience of the patient in a profound way, and they are a crucial part of the hospital. I don't know if they should necessarily develop an attachment to the patients, but I feel as if they should strive to have a friendly acquaintanceship with the people they look after. They should seek to help others out of the goodness of their own hearts and respect for the medical profession, not necessarily out of a special connection with their patients. This allows them to take care of even the most uncooperative of people, and insures that everyone receives the best care possible.
DeleteI'd say Jimmy has a good point in saying that a nurse's role is very dynamic. On any given day a nurse may serve as a motherly figure, a friend, a listener, and on top of all that, a healthcare provider. In my own experience, I have seen nurses grow very strong bonds with certain patients and I am quite convinced that these types of relationships do contribute to the well-being of the patient. Sometimes it's as simple as lending an open ear to a patient who needs someone to talk to. Furthermore, nurses are well educated and well trained in providing medical care for patients. Thus, simply labeling a nurse as a healthcare provider does not fully capture the vast spectrum of roles they serve in medicine. Nurses have perhaps the most dynamic role of any health profession and certainly hold a very special place in healthcare.
DeleteI agree with you Jimmy, but nurses do not always get the end of the stick. Doctors realize that nurses help them them out A LOT! Doctors are extremely busy through out the day and have many patients to see. Nurses really help out by doing certain things that save the doctors time. I think it does also depend on the personality of the doctor. My mother is a nurse and she says, for the most part, the doctors are very respectful and show gratitude for the work the nurses do. I also agree with Andy that the nurses are the faces of the hospital! The doctors dont have time to really build relationships with his/her patients, so the nurses are needed for not only from the physical standpoint but from the mental aspect of the patient also.
DeleteI was particularly intrigued by the discussion about the importance of a virtuous physician. Both sides of the coin are interesting. As Bear said, its more important that a physician save my life, than have an accurate moral compass. Bear pointed to Dr. House as a fictitious example. I find that being a world-class surgeon may create an exception to people caring if the doctor is virtuous or not. If you were seeing "Dr. House" obviously you have an extreme illness no other doctor can figure out, so at that point who cares about the morals of your savior. Outside of this case though, I feel being a virtuous physician is important. Physicians are given a high status in society and the respect that comes with it. They should live up to their title to be a good role model for all citizens. Also, the doctor-patient relationship is built upon trust. I feel it would be hard to trust a physician who did half the things Dr. House does. I can see both sides of this argument, just interesting to think about.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Michael on this one. That discussion really grabbed my attention. Isn't a physicians main goal to save your life? If a physician has to follow ethics all the time, what are they going to do when the only way they can save a life is entirely against ethical code? Are they supposed to just sit by and watch as the patient dies? This particular topic is like a two sided coin, each with very interesting points of views. Now ethics are indeed important, they keep people from doing the wrong thing. Following the ethical code sets a good example for patients, other doctors and citizens in the community. If we didn't have ethics and morals society would be an even crazier place than it already is. In real life, it would be hard and very uncomfortable to trust your doctor if you knew that he did what ever he felt like regardless of ethics or how you felt on the matter. I can see how both sides of this topic have its pros and cons (as does almost any topic in existence). Its a very intriguing topic to think about but would most certainly be harder to discuss if one was in the situation themselves.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Bear on this one. When it comes down to it I would want my doctor to do everything in his power to save my life and not worry whether it is virtuous or not. In regards to cosmetic surgery if someone is uncomfortable with something about their own body and maybe have been made fun of for it and are not comfortable in their own skin they should be allowed to have cosmetic surgery to fix what they want. The only problem I have with cosmetic surgery is when people almost take the role of God and totally recreate themselves and get every procedure done possible. Even though it probably isn't possible a limit on the number of cosmetic surgeries a person can have might be a good law to have because sometimes you see in the news people who have become addicted to it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Craig because i believe your doctor should do everything possible because i want to live as long a healthy life as my body will allow. i feel that only when someone needs cosmetic surgery is either when they don't feel at ease with their own body. furthermore i think the doctor performing the surgery should keep track of how many times their patients have been getting surgeries and whether they need them for a good reason or just for what society wants them to look. Doing it for a justified reasons is a lot better than doing it for superficial reasons.
DeleteI feel like we can not overlook the importance of the dynamic role of the nurse. Not only is the nurse the face of the hospital, but they are also they main source of comfort for these patients. The nurses are the one that have to mediate the doctor's and patient's wishes. They also need to comfort patients who are going through some of the most traumatic experiences of their lives. This being said I feel the doctor can be more static in deciding what is best for the patient because of the nurse's role as the loving mother.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Brent on the role of nurses. A patient interacts with nurses everyday and they are able to develop a bond with a patient. This bond is seen as a motherly bond (as stated by Brent) in the way that the nurse cares for the patient and comforts him. While the nurse can change the they treat each patient because how close they work together, a doctor would be able to be more dynamic and will be abole to treat a patient withouth developing a relationship and affect the doctor's judgement of treatment.
DeleteThe issue of cosmetic surgery is tricky. Medical procedures should be limited to improving quality of life, but doesn't that quality of life depend on each individual patient. Cosmetic surgery has a negative connotation because of its high cost and the most common patients are popular and wealthy individuals. In this case the patients become consumers and procedures should not be sold for the monetary gain of physicians. I see this as the main problem with cosmetic surgery, but it becomes hard to control this type of medicine because the patients are deciding what will "improve their quality of life". Even if this mean getting a "nose job".
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree here with Gabby. While I know that for myself, I do not feel the want or need to have cosmetic surgery. However, I know that there are cases where cosmetic surgery could substantially increase the quality of a person's life. For example, if a person wants to have a face reconstruction after their face was severly damaged by a burn incident, that is reasonable because that could really increase that person's confidence. The same can be argued for someone who wants cosmetic surgery to increase confidence though they look normal to begin with (ex: breast enhancement, not needed because there are no physical problems initially, but some women may feel more confident with a change).
DeleteHowever, back to the prompt:
I think that health professionals are in their profession because they want to help people. Thus, they must help people in the way they request from unnecessary procedures (vasectomy) to critical surgeries (tumor removal). I think that the roles of doctors and nurses remains static. I feel like there is an impression of each of them and that makes them have a certain "role" in healthcare yet that could change if the personality of the healthcare provider is varied from the normal, which could strike a different impression.
I think the Hippocratic Oath is clear what doctors can and cannot do. "Do no harm" seems vague, but it really isn't. A doctor can do what he/she believes is in the best interest of the patient without doing any intended harm; this is true for every doctor in every profession. In an ever changing world, the role of the doctor is very dynamic, it has to be. If it wasn't, they'd still be prescribing leaches and church in the morning.
ReplyDeletei agree with what you are saying brad. The whole "do no harm" thing in theory seems extremely vague but in some ways isn't. its kind of saying that if a doctor needs to do something, like an emergency procedure, they can do it as long as it doesn't cause the patient harm ( unnecessary) in order to save that person's life. But what if the patient doesn't want the procedure? Does the doctor have a right to perform a procedure on a patient to save them ? Would that be considered doing harm them? Just throwing out some questions here that your post made me think of.
DeleteI think that cosmetic surgery, even though it is taken out of hand, should continued to be offered. We need this type of surgery to help the people that have been physically harmed. It helps people with breast cancer and even those that have been burned badly. There should be guidlines for the people who continue to use the surgery, even though they are perfectly fine.I don't agree with doctors wasting their time to practice on patients who continue adjusting themselves to make themselves "look" better, but if those people continue to pay for it, the doctors will continue to complete surgeries like that.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Brittani. I think that cosmetic surgury can be a great thing for many people who have been physically altered due to disease or other accidents. I think that it can help them raise their self confidence and that it would help them feel as normal as they can. As for everyone else who only want the cosmetic aspect of the sugery, that is a little bit more iffy. I don't necessarily think that it is morally wrong but I think that it is unnecessary. If there is nothing wrong with your face, why would you get a nose job or lip injections or botox? seriously, a lip injection plus botox looks awful. I can understand breast reduction surgery becasue large breasts can cause back pain and effect a woman's health. As for breast implants, ok fine do whatever you want but the women who get unrealistically large (like cup sizes in the Z's and K's) are absolutely ridiculous. That kind of surgery should not be allowed because that could really effect the woman's health and it will do more harm than good. There is no reason to have breasts the size of small children.
DeleteI think that they need to put some limits on what plastic surgeons can do, especially concerning breast size. Not major limits but I think that they should refrain from extreme changes on the individual.
To play devil's advocate for a bit... I would challenge you to not necessarily judge these people too harshly as their backgrounds are unclear. Many of these women who seek cosmetic surgery may suffer from self esteem issues, and by going through the whole ordeal they may be able to work through them. I'm not saying that there isn't a chance that plastic surgery can go wrong, and I feel bad for those people who look back and regret the procedures that they have had done. In a way, I see cosmetic surgery as kin to getting tattoos. Just the other day in organic chemistry we learned that the ink that is used in tattoos can cause carcinoma. People continue to get tattoos however, and, as far as I know of, there are not regulations to the amount of tattoos one can have. I think the risks with plastic surgery should be addressed by the doctor, but it is the person's choice in the end as to whether they elect to get it or not. This entire issue draws a fine line. On one hand, we must protect an individual's autonomy. On the other, we must also figure out when their autonomy is compromised and they risk doing unacceptable amounts of harm to themselves. Only when we weigh all the pros and cons may we come to an informed decision (on a case-by-case basis).
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