Healthcare Decisions for Capacitated Patients Research Paper

Healthcare Decisions for Capacitated Patients - Research Paper Example As a result, health-care providers face challenges in such situations, because they routinely turn to available formal or informal surrogates as a way of expressing the best interests’ standard as they make health related decisions for the capacitated person. More so, depending on the beliefs and philosophical leanings, of different individuals perception on removal of life-sustaining treatment could be viewed as the cause of allowing a patient to die. More importantly, the doctrine of informed consent was formulated to represent the legal right of embodiment of self-determination in health care cases (Kleinman,I. (1991). As a result, the doctrine acts as a guiding process of medical decision making as it defines the restrictions of the patient-physician dialogue. Therefore, the health practitioners have to follow the clear and consistent health legal principles that stipulate their directives on treatment limitation, and decision making for patients who lack capacity even tho ugh they are capacitated. More so, the use of opioids, futility and physician-assisted suicide expose challenges to health-care providers based on the legal, ethical, societal and individual values that are either in favor or against making decisions for the capacitated patients. For this reason, those against the idea of making healthcare decisions for capacitated patients consent to the fact that it is ethically, legally, and clinically better to always ascertain the level of patient’s valid goals, preferences, wishes, and values as compared to taking an immediate default to a family member or other surrogate decision maker. Nonetheless, those in support of making decisions for the capacitated patients believe decisions made give best interest of the patient and family members as it relieves them from the pain and suffering. Pro Side Even though, patients are normally considered to have the right to participate in making decisions that relate to their care including cases o f diagnostic and treatment interventions, ambulation, diet, daily care, and end-of-life care. More significantly, health related decisions that involve capacitated patients expose health care providers to a challenging situation because it involves the health of a patient who cannot make sound decisions for themselves (Sessums, Zembrzuska, & Jackson, 2011). This is because some capacitated patients are considered to have either insufficient cognitive or emotional ability that will guarantee the health-care provider that the patient cannot make and express independent decisions personally. As a result, the health-care provider will depend on either an instruction directive that the patient previously executed in advance through a living will, or take the second alternative of available formal or informal surrogates. This is because the patient’s surrogates will give or withhold informed consent regarding the medical treatment options available on behalf of the capacitated pati ent who cannot make an independent decision. Nonetheless, such decisions should be in favor of the capacitated patient in legal, ethical, societal and individual values thus, should be unbiased. Societal and Individual Values Relevance More importantly, those in favor of making a decision for capacitated