Robotics and Biomedicine

Over the past century, there have been significant advancements in the field of medicine which have ensured that there is an improvement and extension in the lives of human beings all over the world. These advancements have ensured that life expectancy has not only improved, but there is also an opportunity for medical practitioners to undertake practical measures aimed at ensuring that diseases and medical conditions that were thought to be untreatable are not only treated, but also prevented before they develop. Medical advancements have come about mainly because of the considerable developments when it comes to biomedicine and robotics, which have a potential of leading to rapid prevention and treatment of diseases. However, despite the developments in these two fields, it is important to note that they also pose considerable ethical problems, and issues that might arise as a result of their practice. In this paper, there will be an attempt to analyze the importance of biomedicine and robotics while also considering the potential ethical implications that might come about as a result.

The advancements that have been made in biomedicine and robotics have led to a potential of saving lives more effectively. This is especially the case considering that a considerable number of people are often in need of specialized healing and new organs to ensure that their lives are saved. Through the development of such technologies as 3D printing, a potential for the development of new organs for people who need them has created a lot of excitement in the medical field (Ventola 704). This is because a large number of people are often on the waiting line for organs, with only a few organ donors available at a time. However, through the use of 3D printing of body parts, it is possible that individuals might end up being able to get organ replacements at a much faster rate than is currently the case. Therefore, the continued research into this technology could go a long way towards enhancing human life and saving those individuals that were previously considered a lost cause. Furthermore, through the use of 3D printing technology, it will be possible to ensure that there is the creation of means to reduce the medical costs of patients; allowing for a reduction of overall public healthcare costs.

Another important advancement in biomedicine is the development of cloning. Cloning, unlike 3D printing of organs, is one of the most controversial developments when it comes to biomedicine. This is because its potential practice raises a considerable number of ethical issues that are unlikely to be effectively addressed. Among the advantages of cloning technology is that it has the potential of ensuring that it brings about the development of organs and other parts of the body that are specially tailored for the individuals that need them. Therefore, the creation of clones through the use of the cells of an individual could help this individual have an unlimited source of organ replacements that could ensure an extension of his life (Macklin 76). However, one of the biggest concerns about this practice is that it leads to the creation and destruction of life. Clones, despite their artificial origins, raise an ethical concern because once they come to life; they will be considered human beings, with the same rights as any other person in society. Under such circumstances, it would be unethical to simply harvest body parts from them without considering their feelings in a bid to enhance the life of their parent. Clones, despite their origins, are different individuals from their parents, and this means that since they are human beings, they have to be treated as such. The use of clones for medical purposes rather than as a means of creating children for individuals who cannot give birth to their own is unethical and should not be considered when it comes to human beings.

Stem cell research, which is one of the most important developments in biomedicine, is another controversial ethical issue. This is because while it has been tried out in animals, its use in human beings is considered to be unethical. One of the reasons behind this stance is that it involves harvesting stem cells from fetuses and embryonic cells, the latter which are considered to be essentially human beings (Munsie and Hyun). Religious and human rights groups have raised this concern and have pointed out that undertaking the harvesting of stem cells from human beings could be an equivalent of opening a Pandora’s Box because it could unleash the uncontrolled harvesting of cells from fellow human beings in their early stage of development in the name of advancing the treatment of others. A consequence is that even though stem cell research has the potential of leading to advances in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease among other debilitating diseases and medical conditions; it cannot be used without strict regulations to the practice. These regulations have to cover such sensitive issues as the killing of human beings in their early stage of development, as well as the need to define exactly at what stage is an individual to be considered a human being.

In the medical field, robotics has a potential of playing an essential part in helping to improve the lives of individuals. The development of robotic parts to replace those parts of the body that have been lost or amputated is an important role that this technology can play (Stahl and Coeckelbergh). In recent years, there have been important developments in medical robotics, as seen where individuals are provided with robotic replacements for those limbs that they have lost either because of accidents or during amputations. The result has been that robotic has come to be seen as an important means of helping in advancing the lives of individuals that would otherwise have had the quality of their lives significantly reduced. Robotics is an essential aspect of making sure that there is the creation of powerful means to bring about the development of medical practices that not only improve the lives of individuals, but allow for the advancement of technologies aimed at helping individuals achieve their highest potential.

Among the biggest developments in robotics is nanomedicine, which has the potential of being used to fight diseases in the body more effectively. Nanomedicine is essential in the development of means through which to ensure that the body is kept under constant surveillance so that when diseases come up, they can be effectively defeated before they overwhelm the body (Kazemi, Majidinia, and Jamali 1). In addition, this technology also has the potential of being used to ensure that preventative measures are taken against diseases so that even potentially terminal ones can be prevented from developing (Resnik and Tinkle). However, one of the most significant ethical issues that arise in this situation is whether the injection of robotic technology in the human body could potentially open the way for malicious individuals to have access to private information of individuals that use the technology. It is therefore essential that as nanomedicine is adopted, strict regulations and guidelines are put in place in order to prevent its abuse for malignant purposes.

In conclusion, biomedicine and robotic have and will continue to have a positive impact on the health. Their potential for ensuring that there is the advancement of the interests of patients is essential in making sure that there is the development of strict regulations aimed at building up responsible use among medical practitioners. The observance of ethics should be the guiding force behind the developments made in biomedicine and robotics because it will ensure that there is the advancement of these aspects of medicine in a manner that is acceptable to most, if not all, members of society.

The Risk of a Cholera Outbreak during the Hajj

Millions of pilgrims attend the annual Hajj to the holy city of Mecca and because of the mass gatherings involved, there is often a high potential of public health challenges coming up. The large influx of people from across the globe and the considerable amount of time that they spend in close proximity to one another leads to a situation where there is a high risk of disease transmission (1). The transmission of such disease is not only a matter of concern for the pilgrims, but also for the local population. The introduction of such disease as cholera can end up putting the entire public health system of Saudi Arabia, as well as those of the home countries of the pilgrims at a compromise because they might bring back this disease with them on their return. It is therefore extremely pertinent to ensure that there is an effective understanding of the cholera epidemic and the manner through which it has affected the Hajj pilgrims in the past and its potential of return in future events.

Cholera epidemics in Mecca have been recorded since the nineteenth century with the first recorded case appearing in 1831 (2). However, these epidemics developed in the Hejaz region but since 1912, there have been no reported epidemics that have developed in Mecca and its environs. It is important to note that prior to the use of steam ships in 1866 to transport pilgrims, caravan transport was the most common means of transportation (3). Because of the latter, it was possible for epidemics to die out prior to the pilgrims’ arrival in Mecca because of the long duration of their journeys (4, 5). Steam navigation that was used to transport pilgrims from Egypt and India to the Hejaz not only led to considerable proximity, but also the increase in the likelihood of individuals carrying epidemics to Mecca and back to their home countries (6). It is important to note that despite epidemics arising from time to time in the subsequent years, the most recent cholera outbreak took place in the Hajj of 1989, which is an extremely important public health victory for the Saudi government. During the latter outbreak, about 102 pilgrims were affected, and the disease was contained (7).

Despite the precautions that have been taken by the Saudi government, it is important to note that the country is still at risk of a cholera epidemic. This is especially considering that there is currently a cholera epidemic in neighboring Yemen, which has affected more than 300,000 people (8). Thus, the potential of this epidemic spreading during the Hajj to Mecca is highly significant because it could end up spreading to the rest of the world as pilgrims return home. In recent years, the pilgrimage has drawn between 2 and 4 million individuals from all over the world. The outbreak of cholera in Yemen as well as in some African countries might end up presenting a serious risk to all pilgrims during the Hajj and after returning to their countries (9, 10). It is however noteworthy that because of the strict measures that it has taken; Saudi Arabia has not had a cholera outbreak in many years. This situation therefore means that the government has taken appropriate measures to counter the potential of the disease appearing in its borders, especially during the Hajj.

It is therefore important to consider the potential of cholera during the Hajj a serious threat. By putting such considerations at the forefront of public health policy, the government of Saudi Arabia can work hand in hand with its partners, especially the countries from which pilgrims originate, to ensure that threats are discovered early and eliminated prior to the Hajj (11). Furthermore, Saudi Arabia can make sure to reinforce its surveillance and rapid test system in order to detect cases early (12). The latter system has worked extremely well in recent years because outbreaks of cholera have not been recorded in decades. Also, the Saudi government should work hand in hand with the World Health Organization (WHO) in order to undertake a joint risk assessment of the situation so that they can develop recommendations to curb any potential outbreak in a manner that is clinically, operationally, and financially sustainable (13). Such measures, as well as the strict implementation of WHO guidelines to prevent cholera, and also undertaking campaigns to raise awareness about this disease during the Hajj could go a long way towards its prevention. Finally, Saudi Arabia should work towards enhancing its measures to protect both pilgrims and locals through regular screenings and testing from the potential of cholera outbreaks.

There is a threat of a #cholera epidemic in #Mariupol

Centralized water supply/sewerage is not working.the city is drowning in garbage and sewage.Almost every yard has mass burials and the summer heat has accelerated the decomposition of thousands of corpses under the rubble

— Надія (@Hope_grayblonde) June 7, 2022

Reference List

1.         Niu S, Xu M. Impact of Hajj on Global Health Security. Journal of religion and health. 2019;58(1):289-302.

2.         Omar W. The Mecca Pilgrimage: Its Epidemiological Significance and Control. Postgraduate medical journal. 1952;28(319):269.

3.         Miller M, editor The Business of the Hajj: Seaborne Commerce and the Movement of Peoples. Seascapes, Littoral Cultures, and Trans-Oceanic Exchanges” Washington, DC: Library of Congress; 2003.

4.         Brower BC. The Hajj by Land. The Hajj: Pilgrimage in Islam. 2015:87.

5.         Low MC. Empire and the Hajj: pilgrims, plagues, and pan-Islam under British surveillance, 1865–1908. International Journal of Middle East Studies. 2008;40(2):269-90.

6.         Boyle SA. Cholera, Colonialism, and Pilgrimage: Exploring Global/Local Exchange in the Central Egyptian Delta, 1848-1907. Journal of World History. 2015:581-604.

7.         Ahmed QA, Arabi YM, Memish ZA. Health risks at the Hajj. The Lancet. 2006;367(9515):1008-15.

8.         VOA. WHO Warns of Cholera Risk at Hajj, Praises Saudi Preparedness. VOA; 2017.

9.         Green A. Cholera outbreak in the horn of Africa. The Lancet. 2017;389(10085):2179.

10.       Almutairi MM, Alsalem WS, Hassanain M, Hotez PJ. Hajj, Umrah, and the neglected tropical diseases. PLoS neglected tropical diseases. 2018;12(8):e0006539.

11.       Al-Tawfiq JA, Memish ZA. The Hajj 2019 Vaccine Requirements and Possible New Challenges. Journal of epidemiology and global health. 2019.

12.       Alotaibi BM, Yezli S, Bin Saeed A-AA, Turkestani A, Alawam AH, Bieh KL. Strengthening health security at the Hajj mass gatherings: characteristics of the infectious diseases surveillance systems operational during the 2015 Hajj. Journal of travel medicine. 2017;24(3):1-6.

13.       Zumla A, McCloskey B, Endericks T, Azhar EI, Petersen E. The challenges of cholera at the 2017 Hajj pilgrimage. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 2017;17(9):895-7.

The future of electronic medical records

           The electronic medical records are a software based solution that provides for the digital computerization, recording, and maintenance of patient and medical practice information and it deals the need to set up excellence in patient care and practicality in medical practice. It is one of the main tools currently being used to fix the ailing health care system through patient monitoring which will enable doctors to shift from only curing ailments to preventing them instead. One of the main goals for using this system is to increase efficiency within the healthcare system to the point of significantly reducing health care costs while saving millions of lives. Over the past five years, health-care providers, insurers, drug companies and research institutions have initiated a massive transformation from a paper-based health-care system to one that increasingly relies on electronic records to manage patient information with full government support.

               The increasing number of those who are expected to be regular users of the American health care system due to the passage of the health care reform bill has been touted as one of the reasons why digitizing the medical data of patients is very important in managing the already burdened health care system. Putting people’s health information in databases will not only reduce redundancies but is already shifting the way people receive and seek health care. With better contact to an individualized health record, whether it is through an official electronic record by a doctor, a private record created by an individual, or a fast instant messaging contact with a doctor, the customary roles of doctors and patients are experiencing swift changes. It is expected that in the future, patients will arrive for appointments with their doctors having gone through their medical records and the recommended articles about their health concerns.

            It is believed that even more people will be able to skip the hospital visit altogether due to their busy schedules and will instead prefer to stay in touch with their doctors through text messaging and emails in order to receive answers for their health concerns. Electronic medical records are the future because in emergencies, such as attending to a patient with a heart attack, finding and reading the paper medical records of a patient costs a lot of time, and this time might be crucial in the saving of the life of this patient. If electronic data is available, then it would be easier to treat whatever medical condition a patient has because the doctors have almost instant access to their medical records, and in fact, the chances of such a patient living would be significantly higher.

        Electronic medical records are here to stay because they reduce the chances of physicians making errors in their diagnosis of a patient’s illness due to the fact that they will have the patient’s entire medical history before they start attending on him or her. Although electronic medical records have been said to have saved the lives of many and that there are even higher possibilities of their doing so in future, it still has the problem of cost. Installing an electronic medical records system in a hospital or clinic, for example, can be very expensive and many doctors opt not to do it because of the cost. Unless cheaper ways are found to ensure that electronic data systems are more available to doctors at cheaper prices, then the future of electronic medical records will be threatened, not only increasing the risk to the lives of the patients but will also continue to burden the already strained medical health care system as it is today, making medical services even slower.

          However, the health reform law and the stimulus package put in place recently by the American government have encouraged the shifting of the health care system from paper records to electronic ones. Billions of dollars have been put into incentive programs to reward doctors who meet the standards set for establishing electronic records. The problem with having electronic medical records currently is that although many medical practitioners keep electronic records, they have no centralized system through which the patient’s information can be shared and this leads to the same problem as that experienced by the use of the paper system, that is, the loss of time. It is estimated that fewer than a quarter of all medical practitioners in the United States have the necessary technology to share their patients’ medical information with other medical practitioners and it is believed that the efficient sharing of this information will not be in place for another five years.

          The main beneficiaries of the electronic medical records will be the patients themselves because sometimes, medical and diagnostic errors occur because complete patient information is not available at the time of patient care and doctors are forced to provide care based on a patient’s recollection or in worst cases not information at all. An integrated electronic medical records system could help resolve this problem because doctors will have all the information they need about a patient’s medical history hence reducing the chances of errors occurring.

          Furthermore, the use of electronic medical records protects the patient’s privacy from eavesdropping because these records are password protected hence limiting their access to only the patient and their doctor. It has been found that adequate technology is available to protect the patient’s privacy and this can be found cheaply. However, the making of medical records electronic can have some unforeseen effects in the future because even though it is safer in matters of privacy, any breach in the security of the electronic system can completely compromise the privacy of a patient and their information might be available for all to see especially online. With very few controls over the internet, the patient’s medical history and personal information can no longer be kept private.

                In conclusion, it can be said that the future of electronic medical records is assured because not only is it faster to use but it is also more efficient than the paper medical records. It can be used to reduce the time which a patient spends at a clinic or hospital because all their information will be available for the doctor and there would be no need for this patient to be asked numerous questions about their medical history that they may not be able to answer accurately. This new system will also enable doctors to see more patients in a day than they do currently and it may also allow them to make a diagnosis of their patients remotely because with a medical history at hand, all he will have to do is make a prescription and only if the case is serious will he require to see the patient.

Nurse Staffing and the Quality of Patient Care

For many years, the safe staffing of nurses has been linked to the positive outcomes of patients. It has been noticed that nurse staffing has an effect on the length in which patients stay in hospital as well as the efficiency of their treatment. Adequate nurse staffing in hospitals has the outcome of decreasing the duration of patients’ hospital stay. It has also been found that there is a decrease in the number of medical errors made concerning patients. Furthermore, adequate staffing also has an impact on nurses because they become more motivated in their work, which increases their efficiency. This efficiency helps the patient as it improves the care which they are given, and this leads to the patient’s swift recovery. 

Adequate nurse staffing in hospitals reduces the patients’ mortality rates due to the fact that they have the full attention of the nurses throughout their convalescence. It is, therefore, important for hospitals to ensure that they have adequate nurse staffing so that only the best possible care can be provided for patients. Moreover, with a balanced nurse to patient ratio, the patients’ hospital stay will be reduced, meaning that more attention will be given to the remaining patients.

In conclusion, it can be said that nurse staffing does indeed have an impact on the quality of care that patients receive. If the ratio between nurses and patients is well balanced, then the patients will have the best care and their recovery will be quite swift. However, if there are fewer nurses in relation to the patients they serve, then the latter will have very poor service. If fact, their recovery rate, will be very low while their mortality rate will go up significantly. Nurse staffing should always be given priority when dealing with matters concerning healthcare to ensure that services of good quality are provided for patients.

Implications of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on the Healthcare Environment

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is one of the most important policy initiatives of the American government in the contemporary world. The first of its aims to ensure that there is collaboration between government, individuals, and employers in order to achieve near-universal healthcare coverage. The second aim is to ensure that al of those individuals who receive health insurance coverage are able to achieve a high level of fairness, affordability, and quality. Another aim is to ensure that individuals who have coverage are able to receive a high quality of care without wasteful spending through the improvement of efficiency and accountability to patients. This policy also aims at promoting the development of a situation where there is a strengthening of primary care with the objective of easier access to preventative healthcare; essentially encouraging the reduction of healthcare costs. The final objective of this policy is to ensure that there is investment in needed healthcare facilities in so that it can be possible to bring about the expansion of clinical preventative care that is useful in the creation of a stable healthcare system. Patient Protection and Affordable Care is essential in the fixing the healthcare system so that a majority of the population can have access to quality care.

One of the most fundamental aspects of the American healthcare system is that it is one of the most expensive in the world. Unlike in European countries, where there are strong social welfare systems that ensure universal healthcare, in the United States, prior to Affordable Care, it was quite difficult for individuals to access quality healthcare. Furthermore, there was a situation where very few individuals had health insurance; meaning that some treatable health conditions ended up becoming a burden on patients. Therefore, the move by government to ensure that there was the expansion of healthcare insurance as well as an increase in investment in medical facilities to cater for the needs of individuals in need of them. This legislation had considerable support from the Obama administration, which promoted it by proposing that it was not only a matter of government policy, but also a moral issue that could not be ignored. In addition, while there was an attempt by the Democratic majority in Congress to take on a bipartisan approach, this ended up not being the case because the policy faced considerable opposition from conservative elements in the Republican Party such as the Tea Party. Moreover, some lobby groups associated with the healthcare complex were also involved in pushing their agendas in the development of the policy.

Among the considerations that were made during the development of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was the establishment of a single-payer Medicare for All Act. However, this option was discarded because of the belief that it would not be able to acquire support within the Senate that was filibuster-proof. The Medicare for All Act would have been one of the most progressive accomplishments of the policy because it would have ensured that all individuals were able to have health insurance. However, this alternative was not considered because it would have met with considerable opposition, especially from the conservative elements in the Republican Party. Furthermore, there was the fear that if such an act was passed by Congress, it would encourage freeloading among those individuals who were not willing to pay their fair share of insurance premiums. Therefore, the most progressive aspects of the Affordable Care Act were discarded because of the potential of considerable opposition to it. Furthermore, the need to ensure that the bipartisan concerns were addressed so that the act could be passed meant that compromises had to be made in order to create a situation where it was possible for majority support to be comfortably obtained.

The implementation of the Affordable Care Act was conducted at the state level. However, it was not implemented according to its original design because of considerable resistance that the legislation received from its opponents. A consequence was that states were given the option of making the decision of whether or not to expand their Medicaid programs. Since the objective of promoting the full adoption of Affordable Care in the whole of the United States was not achieved, it has remained a considerable point of contention on both sides of the political divide. However, a number of states ended up expanding their Medicaid to such an extent that a large number of individuals who previously did not have the means to have quality healthcare currently have access to it. This situation shows that if there had been proper bipartisan support for the policy, it would have led to universal healthcare coverage in the country to such an extent that it would have promoted the health of all Americans while reducing costs. Those states that opted not to expand their Medicaid created a situation where the federal government had to revise its estimates concerning how Affordable Care would work. This meant that it was essential to reduce the expectations concerning the savings that would have been made following implementation in all states.

While the policy started with good intentions for the healthcare system, it ended up not being able to achieve its intended goals because of resistance towards it both at the political and state levels. However, it was able to solve a considerable part of the original problem because it allowed individuals who could not previously afford it to have healthcare coverage. The progress of this policy was interrupted because some states opted not to adopt it because of the belief that it would increase their Medicaid costs. The lack of bipartisan support for this policy, especially considering Republican resistance, meant that its chances of success were limited to those states that adopted it. A consequence was that because some states opted not to adopt Affordable Care, the cost savings ended up being much less than was originally projected. Thus, this policy can be considered to have been neither a success nor a failure because while it was able to achieve its objectives in some states, in others, it had a hard time gaining acceptance.

The Role of Communication in Patient Safety

In nursing, communication is one of the most essential elements in ensuring that the safety of the patients has been met, because without it, then the patient outcome rates will be considerably low. For many years, effective communication has been linked to the positive outcomes of patients. It has been noticed that nurse communication has an effect on the length in which patients stay in hospital as well as the efficiency of their treatment. Adequate nurse communication in medical centers has the outcome of decreasing the duration of patients’ stay in hospital. It has also been found that there is a decrease in the number of medical errors made concerning patients. Furthermore, adequate communication also has an impact on nurses because they become more motivated in their work, which increases their efficiency. This efficiency helps the patient as it improves the care which they are given, and this leads to the patient’s swift recovery.

One of the factors which influence communication between nurses and patients is the complexity of the hospital and nursing systems, so that the larger and more complex they are, the higher the risk that the potential for patient errors will be increased. It is therefore necessary to ensure that adequate communication between the various hospital systems is instituted so that the number of such errors can be reduced or done away with. The quality of care depends completely on the accuracy and completeness of information being available to the nurses who care for the patients. While this is important, it should be noted that the accuracy of the information becomes outdated over time and this is the reason why more, up to date information has to be collected to ensure that the caregivers provide the best service possible to the patient.

Errors tend to occur when during the communication of a patient’s medication. This usually happens when there is a misinterpretation of the various abbreviations or acronyms to the drugs which have been prescribed to the patient. This creates a situation where there is the potential of a patient taking the wrong drugs, taking the drugs at the wrong time of the day, or even worse, taking an overdose of the prescribed drugs. It is therefore necessary to ensure that errors in the writing down of instructions for the patient or caregiver are avoided and that the person writing the said instructions is alert at all times to the potential of making mistakes. Among the recommendations that can be made is that there must be a standardization of all the abbreviations and acronyms for the drugs used in the medical field so that there can be no confusion over the type of drugs that have been prescribed. It has been found that many drugs have similar names which may lead to the nurse giving the patient the wrong medicine. To prevent such incidences, it has been recommended that capital and small letters be used to differentiate the drugs with similar names to avoid confusion. This will work to ensure that there is uniformity in the communication of medication and this will ultimately promote the safety of the patients to whom the medication is prescribed. With uniformity in communication, the work of the nurses will become less cumbersome because they will be able to be accurate in their administration of medication.

In many hospital systems, there is always a breakdown in communication due to the fact that the nursing staff is usually afraid to report errors because of the potential of being punished. This fear has made it difficult for errors to be corrected and has ensured that the outcome for patients is greatly diminished. The lack of adequate communication has created a scenario where nurses are not able to conduct their activities efficiently and this has come to have a devastating impact on the safety of the patients. Hospital management should create an environment where nurses and other hospital staff are comfortable enough to report any errors which they find without any fear of punishment. In order to achieve this, the management of the hospital should have frequent communication with the nurses who deal directly with the patients and know firsthand the needs and requirement of the latter. Such regular communication ensures that the nursing staff is free with the management, and because of this, errors which would not otherwise have been pointed out come to be dealt with quickly to ensure the safety of the patients involved.

The effort of the healthcare industry to improve the safety of patients is being hampered because of the poor communication between caregivers and patients as well as the lack of adequate tools for measuring the safety of patients. Furthermore, despite the availability of a wide array of medical equipment and practices, they cannot be effective without there being adequate communication between the caregivers and the patients. In order to make sure that medical care is efficient, there is a need for the establishment of mechanisms or structures which will enable medical staff to communicate with patients. This will ensure that medical staff  to acquire adequate and accurate data to help them make the correct judgment concerning how to deal with patients. This will create a situation where the number of errors are reduced and the effectiveness of treatment, hence patient safety.

While a few decades ago the incidents of errors being made by hospital staff were low, today, such errors have become common and the biggest cause of this is poor communication. This has become so widespread that it is a constant worry for the management of hospitals. The best way through which caregiver can ensure the safety of their patients is when they have adequate knowledge of the condition of their patient. This ensure that the caregiver is better able to communicate with the patient and it creates an environment where the patient is confident  in his or her caregiver and this helps to improve patient outcome.

Communication is an important factor in ensuring the safety and high outcome for patients and it is essential that nurses develop their communication skills. Communication is one of the most common problems facing the medical profession today and it is because of this that the number of errors has, over time, increased. It is therefore necessary for adequate communication to be developed with patients to ensure that they have a high standard of safety.

Nursing Shortage

Nursing shortage is a global problem which, of not checked, is fast spreading to levels where it can no longer be managed. Nursing is a profession that is least understood by many in the world, even those who are considered to be the most educated. In most cases, it is a profession which is taken for granted, with nurses having to work in conditions that can only be considered to be inhospitable for them. What many governments and policymakers fail to understand is the fact that nurses are a crucial factor in the healthcare system and that without them, this system will most likely collapse. Nurses are needed in the care for individuals in hospitals as well as the general population of the world because of their unique ability not only to save the lives of their patients, but also for the purpose of improving their outcomes. When one considers the current situation, it can be said that the shortage has mainly been caused by the public misunderstanding of exactly what nurses do. In most cases, the public holds take the duties that nurses perform for granted, giving more importance to doctors than to nurses. This has given rise to the notion that the nursing profession is not important, therefore influencing the decision of many people who would have gone into the profession to choose other professions which are deemed to be more important. The shortage can be said to be caused by three main factors which include poor working conditions, limited funding available for research, and finally, the short staffing in hospitals.

The nursing profession has been taken for granted for a long time and it is only recently that its importance has come to be recognized as a shortage has developed. This shortage in the number of nurses in hospitals has created a situation where there is understaffing meaning that the available nurses have to work long hours (Mee & Robinson, 2003). These long hours has a tendency of taking a toll on the physical and mental wellbeing of the nurses involved and may, in fact, lead to a reduction in their performance levels. This reduction in their performance means that the wellbeing of their patients is placed in jeopardy since some of them may require more attention from the nurses in order to make a quick recovery. A nursing shortage, therefore, creates a situation where patients are not provided with the best healthcare available and this is mainly due to the low nurse to patient ratio that the shortage creates. If this shortage is not countered with efficient policies, then it will most likely end up costing the health systems of many countries dear. This is because of the fact that without nurses, there will be a low patient outcome since the patients will not be receiving the care they need to recover effectively. Furthermore, as the aging population continues to increase and the demand for nurses also increases, there is the possibility that the mortality rate of the human population will be quite high in the coming years.

The nursing shortage has dire implications on the future of the nursing profession and among these is the possibility that in future, there may be a shortage of teachers to teach the new generation of nurses. This is mainly due to the fact that the number of experience nurses available to guide the younger generation of nurses into the profession will be extremely low. This will create a situation where it will be impossible for nurses to work effectively most of their action will be done through trial and error, ensuring that the patient outcome remains low. The future of this profession is quite bleak because it has for a long time been associated to women, who in the modern times have a wide range of career option open to them. This means that the idea of nursing as the premier professional option for women is fast fading away. It is therefore prudent for healthcare policymakers to make the profession more attractive to the younger generation through improving the working conditions, providing enough funds for education and research, and in this economically motivated world, ensuring that nurses are given salaries that are decent.

For many years, the safe staffing of nurses has been linked to the positive outcomes of patients. It has been noticed that nurse staffing has an effect on the length in which patients stay in hospital as well as the efficiency of their treatment. Adequate nurse staffing in hospitals has the outcome of decreasing the duration of patients’ hospital stay. It has also been found that there is a decrease in the number of medical errors made concerning patients. Furthermore, adequate staffing also has an impact on nurses because they become more motivated in their work, which increases their efficiency. This efficiency helps the patient as it improves the care which they are given, and this leads to the patient’s swift recovery. Adequate nurse staffing in hospitals reduces the patients’ mortality rates due to the fact that they have the full attention of the nurses throughout their convalescence. It is, therefore, important for hospitals to ensure that they have adequate nurse staffing so that only the best possible care can be provided for patients. Moreover, with a balanced nurse to patient ratio, the patients’ hospital stay will be reduced, meaning that more attention will be given to the remaining patients.

It is a fact that nurse staffing does indeed have an impact on the quality of care that patients receive. If the ratio between nurses and patients is well balanced, then the patients will have the best care and their recovery will be quite swift. However, if there are fewer nurses in relation to the patients they serve, then the latter will have very poor service. In fact, their recovery rate, will be very low while their mortality rate will go up significantly. Nurse staffing should always be given priority when dealing with matters concerning healthcare to ensure that services of good quality are provided for patients.

Implementing Electronic Patient Records

The implementation of electronic patient records is a software based solution that provides for the digital computerization, recording, and maintenance of patient and medical practice information and it deals the need to set up excellence in patient care and practicality in medical practice. It is one of the main tools currently being used to fix the ailing health care system in the developed world through patient monitoring which will enable doctors to shift from only curing ailments to preventing them instead. One of the main goals for using this system is to increase efficiency within the healthcare system to the point of significantly reducing health care costs while saving millions of lives. Over the past several years, health care providers, insurers, drug firms and research institutes have been encouraged to initiate a massive transformation from a paper-based health-care system to one that increasingly relies on electronic records to manage patient data. While this has been easy in developed countries, the same cannot be said concerning developed countries, especially those in Africa.

The increasing number of those who are expected to be regular users of the health care system in Africa has been touted as one of the reasons why digitizing the medical data of patients is very important in managing the already burdened health care system. Putting people’s health information in databases will not only reduce redundancies but is already shifting the way people receive and seek health care. With better contact to an individualized health record, whether it is through an official electronic record by a doctor, a private record created by an individual, or a fast instant messaging contact with a doctor, the customary roles of doctors and patients are experiencing swift changes. It is expected that in the future, patients will arrive for appointments with their doctors having gone through their medical records and the recommended articles about their health concerns.

It is believed that even more people will be able to skip the hospital visit altogether due to their busy schedules and will instead prefer to stay in touch with their doctors through text messaging and emails in order to receive answers for their health concerns. Electronic medical records are the future because in emergencies, such as attending to a patient with a heart attack, finding and reading the paper medical records of a patient costs a lot of time, and this time might be crucial in the saving of the life of this patient. If electronic data is available, then it would be easier to treat whatever medical condition a patient has because the doctors have almost instant access to their medical records, and in fact, the chances of such a patient living would be significantly higher.

Electronic medical records are here to stay because they reduce the chances of physicians making errors in their diagnosis of a patient’s illness due to the fact that they will have the patient’s entire medical history before they start attending on him or her. Although electronic medical records have been said to have saved the lives of many and that there are even higher possibilities of their doing so in future, it still has the problem of cost. Installing an electronic medical records system in a hospital or clinic, for example, can be very expensive and many doctors opt not to do it because of the cost. Unless cheaper ways are found to ensure that electronic data systems are more available to doctors in Africa at cheaper prices, then the future of electronic medical records within it is threatened, not only increasing the risk to the lives of the patients but will also continue to burden the already strained medical health care system as it is today, making medical services even slower.

The problem with having electronic medical records currently is that although many medical practitioners keep electronic records, they have no centralized system through which the patient’s information can be shared and this leads to the same problem as that experienced by the use of the paper system, that is, the loss of time. It is estimated that only a handful of doctors in Africa have the necessary technology to share their patients’ medical information with other medical practitioners and it is believed that the efficient sharing of this information will not be in place for quite a number of years.

The main beneficiaries of the electronic medical records, if implemented in African countries, will be the patients themselves because sometimes, medical and diagnostic errors occur because complete patient information is not available at the time of patient care and doctors are forced to provide care based on a patient’s recollection or in worst cases no information at all. An integrated electronic medical records system could help resolve this problem because doctors will have all the information they need about a patient’s medical history hence reducing the chances of errors occurring.

Furthermore, the use of electronic medical records protects the patient’s privacy from eavesdropping because these records are password protected hence limiting their access to only the patient and their doctor. It has been found that adequate technology is available to protect the patient’s privacy and this can be found cheaply. However, the making of medical records electronic can have some unforeseen effects in the future because even though it is safer in matters of privacy, any breach in the security of the electronic system can completely compromise the privacy of a patient and their information might be available for all to see especially online. With very few controls over the internet, the patient’s medical history and personal information can no longer be kept private.

Responsibilities of Nonprofit Health Care Organizations

The existence of nonprofit healthcare organizations is essential in the provision of affordable healthcare to many Americans who would otherwise find it hard to get treatment elsewhere. These organizations are therefore very important and according to Dewar (2009) they are divided in to three main categories. The first are organizations which are populated by a general membership in a specific industry and a very good example of this is the American Medical Association. The second category comprises of those organizations which are mandated to provide services towards a specific therapeutic problem such as cancer, diabetes, among others and an example of this is the American Cancer Society. The third and final category are nonprofit organizations which are founded and operated by private citizens whose main aim is to help anyone they choose to help and one of the most prominent of these organization is the World Vision Foundation.

The GAO Report on nonprofit hospitals states that the Federal tax exemption for charitable organizations has been in existence since the beginning of the federal income tax law and it is based on the assumption that the loss of government tax revenue is offset by the ability of these charitable organizations to provide for the population’s welfare. One of the greatest beneficiaries of this tax exemption system has been the nonprofit hospitals due to the belief that the promotion of medical healthcare especially to the poor is a charitable function and should be exempted from taxation. The IRS et al (1993) states that one of the main conditions for this exemption is that these hospitals should be organized and operated exclusively for the purpose of the provision of health and that all the income it generates should not go to the benefit of individuals within this organization but should be put back into pursuing the main objectives of such an organization. Furthermore, nonprofit hospitals do not have to provide free medical services in order to qualify for tax exemption so long as they provide services to the community which will reduce the government’s financial burden. In relation to this, the clinics operated by the Memorial Medical Center help it to maintain its tax exemption status due to the fact that these clinics were opened for the purpose of providing better healthcare services to the communities within which they are situated. The operation of these clinics provides it with the means for it to ask for exemptions because they provide the services which the government should be providing and it has also been seen that the provision of these services comes at great expense to the Medical Center considering the losses that are incurred in one of the clinics.

The article An Organizational Ethics Decision-Making Process by William Nelson looks at the steps that can be undertaken by the Memorial Medical Center when making decisions that are related to ethics in order to satisfy all the stakeholders in making the decision of whether to close a loss making clinic or not. The first which is to be considered is the clarification of the ethical issue in question and the parties involved should be able to declare the specific areas where they are in disagreement. The second step is the identification of all the affected stakeholders and giving them the opportunity to express their views concerning the ethical issue involved. A third step is understanding the issues surrounding this ethical conflict and this requires fact finding missions to find out exactly what its root cause is, be it medical, financial, or the community. The fourth step is the identification of the ethical perspectives that are relevant to this conflict from the different views from which it can be seen. The fifth step is the identification of the different options that are open to respond to this issue such as adopting new strategies to stop the financial drain that it has been experiencing. The sixth step is the analyzing the different options identified in the previous step to look for their merits and demerits and to determine whether the opinion of one stakeholder appears to be stronger that those of all the others. The seventh step is to share and implement the decision with all the people concerned. The eighth step is the reviewing of the decision to see whether its implementation managed to achieve the desired goals that it was intended to achieve. There are several options open to the Medical Center including the following: keeping the loss making clinic open and continue running it at a loss, appealing to the government for more tax exemptions in order to get more funds to run this clinic, and finally, it can decide to close the clinic. I believe that the Medical Center should choose the second option because it will enable it to be able to continue operating the clinic with minimal or no losses at all due to the fact that it is getting more tax exemptions. It would not be ethical for the Center to close up its clinic because many people living in that area rely heavily on it due to its affordability.

Nicholson et al (2000) states that it is the ethical obligation of non-profit hospitals to provide medical healthcare to all the people who come to it not only to maintain their tax-exempt statuses but also as a way of contributing to the society.  It is therefore not acceptable for such a hospital to only do the barest minimum to maintain its exemption status because that can only be considered to be illegal. Instead, it should do its utmost to provide the necessary services to justify why it should have any tax-exemptions.

Cited Works

Dewar, D.M. (2009). Essentials of Health Economics. Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.

Government Accountability Office. (2008). Report to the Ranking Member, Committee on Finance, U.S. Senate. Retrieved from http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08880.pdf

Nelson, W.A (2005). An organizational ethics decision-making process. Healthcare Executive, 20(4), 8-14.

Nicholson, S., Pauly, M. V., Burns, L. R., Baumritter, A., & Asch, D. A. (2000). Measuring community benefits provided by for-profit and nonprofit hospitals. Health Affairs, 19(6), 168-77. Retrieved from http://0search.proquest.com.alice.dvc.edu/docview/204632733?accountid=38376

Tax exemption granted to nonprofit charitable hospitals that accept payment for services rendered.(1997). The Appraisal Journal, 65(4), 420-420. Retrieved from http://0search.proquest.com.alice.dvc.edu/docview/199949607?accountid=38376

United States Internal Revenue Service. Statistics of Income Division, American Statistical Association. (1993). Statistics of Income: Turning Administrative Systems into Information Systems. Washington D.C: Government Press.