Question

What do you consider to be the most important ethical issue facing healthcare professionals today, and why?

Answer 1

The ethical issues regarding the end-of-life care situations is the most important issue faced by healthcare professionals today, and it will become more prominent in the future due to the increasing number of elderly individuals (baby boomers). Continuing or suspending the end-of-life support and the related decisions are likely to create ethical issues.

Advance directive is a stipulated document of a person’s medical wishes. We can take decisions regarding medical care as long as we are conscious. If we become unconscious for certain reasons, our family members or friends or physicians or administrative policy take decisions on behalf of us. The ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, and nonmaleficence must be satisfied while implementing the advance directives.

Advance directives as a policy are too limited and are actually used only by a small group of people as most of the people die without a formal advance directive. So, there is a need to prepare a standard basis to determine how the decisions must be taken in this large group of people.