Initial Post Instructions

In week three, we were looking at rights ethics with regards to Locke. As a reminder, Locke said we have inalienable rights to life, liberty, and property. It is immoral to violate them. Many think we have more rights than those listed by Locke. Some even think we have a right to health care. That means it is the duty of the state to provide each citizen with their medical needs.

Rights theory says to respect the entitlements we have. If a right is inalienable, it cannot truly be violated ethically even with our consent. We have basic needs. Rights are something beyond needs. They are what we should be authorized to have. We are due what we have a right to. That is not always the case with need. For example, we need food, but people often go hungry. A need refers to something we need physically to exist. A right is a moral entitlement to something. Asking if we have a right to food is a moral question. Needs are determined by the requirements of the body and of material existence. Rights are determined by moral reflection, inquiry, an argument We have a right to own property. We do not need it to live. We could imaginably be allowed to use another’s. We have a right to own a home. We can rent.

Initial Post Instructions
For the initial post, respond to one of the following options, and label the beginning of your post indicating either Option 1 or Option 2:

Option 1: Assess the moral solutions arrived at through “care” (care-based ethics) and “rights” ethics to social issues of ethical import such as poverty, drug use, and/or lack of health care,

That is, note any ethical problems that arise related to those particular issues. Then, say how both care-based and rights theory of ethics would solve those problems.

Are those solutions correct? Why or why not?

What is your own approach there?

Option 2: What moral guidelines should we use when it comes to recently introduced healthcare technologies of any kind (you will note and engage with your own examples) and social technologies of any kind (you will note and engage with your own examples)?

Involve care-based ethics in your answer

Follow-Up Post Instructions
Respond to at least one peer. If possible, respond to one peer who chose an option different than the one you chose. Further the dialogue by providing more information and clarification. Make sure that you add additional information and not repeat the same information already posted on the discussion board as you further the dialogue.

Writing Requirements

• Minimum of 2 posts (1 initial & 1 follow-up)
• Minimum of 2 sources cited (assigned readings/online lessons and an outside scholarly source)
• APA format for in-text citations and list of references

Answer 1: 

Option 1

As healthcare professionals, we want to provide the best possible care for our patients which means we should hold ourselves to higher standards. This includes fostering trust, accountability, respect, and minimizing errors. When it comes to new healthcare and social technologies, ethics plays a big role. We should consider patient confidentiality, autonomy, cultural sensitivity, humanitarianism, the environment, non-maleficence, safety, efficacy, trust, and others. “The most powerful and socially legitimate claims in a technology design project usually involve efficacy, safety, and what is considered ‘good for the patient’ (Lehoux, et. al., 2014).” Technology has been and can continue to be beneficial for patients and society, but they need to be developed appropriately that considers all members of society.

One example of healthcare or social technology would be AI or artificial intelligence. Sure, this could potentially be amazing and provide quick results, wise decision making, enhanced customer experience, manage multiple tasks at once, research, and analyze data. But, what about the people? Wouldn’t it take away from the one-on-one, personal interaction between patient and Dr. or just from person to person in society? There could be the potential of patient confidentiality breaches or less privacy, manipulation of behavior, robotic human interactions, as well as higher costs and fewer job opportunities. “If technology is not ethical, creating and deploying it can become a risk to the hospital, increase costs (including reputational costs), reduce the quality of the patient experience, and destroy trust and cooperation between patients and staff as well as within the medical team itself (Cossitt, 2020).”

From the perspective of care-based ethics or ethics of care, robotics takes away from our personal virtues and ability to care. As people, we need social interaction, human to human contact to survive. Ethics of care focuses on being kind, generous, courageous, just, and prudent. Ethics of care relates to empathy. It says that we make decisions based on how we would want to be treated or if we were walking in their shoes. We need to be able to accommodate both private and personal factors for technology advancements to be successful. “Public life requires justice and beneficence, while private life requires love and caring (Rachels, 2019, p. 165).” How would AI be able to provide those things?

Answer 2: 

Option 2:

Being a CNA in a hospital now, I am seeing so many different new technologies being used. I am always told “back in the day we had paper charts” or “back in the day we didn’t have a vein finder, we found it ourselves”. I feel these two new technologies to health care are essential, but can also be a mess up. “By 1992, hardware had become more affordable, powerful, and compact and the use of personal computers, local area networks, and the Internet provided faster and easier access to medical information” (Evans, 2016). People now can access a persons medical chart at the tips of their fingers in a hospital or dr office. This can be bad if it got into the hands of the wrong person and then HIPAA is being violated. HIPAA is the act of remaining a patients privacy, giving out no information to anyone who isn’t on the care team of the patient. Although paper charts weren’t the best invention either. Staff would carry all the patients medical records in a folder and if they accidently left it somewhere, a person can pick it up and see the entire persons privacy. Another new invention in the medical field is a vein finder. This fancy device is projected onto the skin to locate veins and arteries within the arm. They also come in ultrasound form. “Vein Finders are optical devices that use the behavior of Infrared light to create an image and superimpose project it onto the viewing area. Infrared light is projected onto the viewing area and is absorbed at the locations where blood (veins) reside” (Mariano, 2019). These neat devices are commonly used on pediatric patients I have witnessed and trauma patients. Although these are very handy and neat, it makes our skills as nurses disappear with searching and locating a vein yourself. 

New healthcare technologies are neat, but not all the time does it do what is the best for healthcare. There is pros and cons to every healthcare technology, but I believe the creators of each device is trying to make healthcare easier and faster to care for a patient in a quick timely manner.