Monday, October 24, 2011

Blog Post 10: Specific Ethical Question

Ask/address an ethical question in your field of interest.

Here is an ethical question related to the physical therapy field.
Question- Should a physical therapist continue treatment on a terminally ill patient?


Develop/address arguments for each side of the issue, then defend your position on the issue.

Argument against treating patient

Yes they should or no they should not. Lets first start out with reasons why a physical therapist should not continue treatment on a terminally ill patient. The most obvious one is that a patient with a terminal illness has a disease that cannot be cured and will likely end up dying as a result. Physical therapists can only see a limited number of patients in a day because that is all they have time for. Sometimes when people call in and want to schedule an appointment to see a physical therapists they have to wait for weeks in order to see one because of so many bookings. The problem that physical therapists face is should they treat someone that is terminally ill knowing very well that there is other people that need to see a physical therapist that have a better chance with their treatment working on them. Even if the physical therapists treatment works on the terminally ill patient the chances of that patient dying in the next couple of months or sometimes years are very good. Cost is another overriding factor that one needs to take into consideration when analyzing this circumstance. Going to see a physical therapists is not exactly cheap. One should not spend that much money trying to get better by a physical therapist if no signs of improving this patients condition can be seen.

Argument for treating patient

On the other hand they are still patients in need of care. There is no rule or law that says terminally ill patients should not be provided any care by a physical therapists. Every patient that a physical therapist sees has a right to receive care by the therapists. After all they are paying for the same medical treatment as a person that does not have a terminal illness. They should be treated with the same type of care that everyone else gets. A physical therapists should do everything within their powers to rehabilitate every patient that they see. After all just because the doctors diagnosed the patient with a terminal illness does not mean that it is terminal for sure. Doctors are human too and they can give patients a misdiagnosis. Most cancers are considered terminal. Should physical therapists not treat cancer patients? There are many cases where cancer patients go through treatment and put the cancer into remission. The patient could live for another ten or more years with the cancer in remission. Just because a patient has a terminal disease does not mean that they should not get equal treatment.

My personal opinion

I believe that every patient that enters a physical therapy facility should be given a chance to receive treatment from a physical therapists. They are the ones that are paying for the service and should not be turned down just because of a condition that they have. Sometimes even if physical therapy does not seem to be helping the patient physically maybe it is helping them in other ways. Maybe the treatment is affecting the way the patients view life. Treatment provided my physical therapists can give patients hope and the power of hope is greater than some people give it credit. Maybe it gives the patient something to hang on to. Whatever the case if the patient wants treatment then the patient should receive just that.

References

http://physther.net/content/60/10/1264.full.pdf
http://helpguide.org/elder/hospice_care.htm
http://clearharmony.net/articles/200504/26148.html

this activity must include references

each student will then review this beginning on Nov 2.

Evaluation Criteria:

1-4 are evaluated by assigning a strong(S), medium(M) or weak(W)

1. Described field of interest and described question posed.
2. Both sides of argument were presented.
3. Appropriate references were included
4. Defended position is described clearly

5. provide one useful comment

Blog Post 9: Project Title, Issue, and Action Plan

Post your team's project Title, Issue, and Action Plan.

https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AfQ1sF3FAtuyZGRwNjlmOGpfNGhzM3M0M2Y4&hl=en_US

Blog Post 8: Ethical Question

Is it ethical for a physician to accept Wild tickets from a pharmaceutical rep to take her family to the game?  Provide an argument for this based on the current ethical fabric of society and what is accepted in the organizations involved.

Sure it is. I mean a physician should realize what the pharmaceutical rep is trying to do. I mean after all the rep wants the physician to use their products. I think as long as the physician knows that he is more than likely getting bribed and not to consider the bribe, but instead look at the drug facts. It comes down to business! Wherever people can spend less and make more they will. There is no way people can live in the business and still remain ethical. Business is Business and there are no ethics in business.

Blog Post 7: General Ethics

Post an ethical code/statement for your career field of interest that has been developed by a professional organization in your field.

Preamble

The Code of Ethics for the Physical Therapist (Code of Ethics) delineates the ethical obligations of all physical therapists as determined by
the House of Delegates of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). The purposes of this Code of Ethics are to:
1. Define the ethical principles that form the foundation of physical therapist practice in patient/client management, consultation, education, research, and administration.
2. Provide standards of behavior and performance that form the basis of professional accountability to the public.
3. Provide guidance for physical therapists facing ethical challenges, regardless of their professional roles and responsibilities.
4. Educate physical therapists, students, other health care professionals, regulators, and the public regarding the core values, ethical principles, and standards that guide the professional conduct of the physical therapist.
5. Establish the standards by which the American Physical Therapy Association can determine if a physical therapist has engaged in unethical conduct.

No code of ethics is exhaustive nor can it address every situation. Physical therapists are encouraged to seek additional advice or consultation in instances where the guidance of the Code of Ethics may not be definitive.

This Code of Ethics is built upon the five roles of the physical therapist (management of patients/clients, consultation, education, research, and administration), the core values of the profession, and the multiple realms of ethical action (individual, organizational, and societal). Physical therapist practice is guided by a set of seven core values: accountability, altruism, compassion/caring, excellence, integrity, professional duty, and social responsibility. Throughout the document the primary core values that support specific principles are indicated in parentheses. Unless a specific role is indicated in the principle, the duties and obligations being delineated pertain to the five roles of the physical therapist. Fundamental to the Code of Ethics is the special obligation of physical therapists to empower, educate, and enable those with impairments, activity limitations, participation restrictions, and disabilities to facilitate greater independence, health, wellness, and enhanced quality of life.


Principle #1: Physical therapists shall respect the inherent dignity and rights of all individuals.

Principle #2: Physical therapists shall be trustworthy and comapssionate in addressing the rights and need of patients/clients.


Principle #3: Physical therapists shall be accountable for making sound professional judgments.


Principle #4: Physical therapists shall demonstrate integrity in their relationships with patients/clients, families, colleagues, students, research participants, other health care providers, employers, payers, and the public.

Principal #5- Physical therapists shall fulfill their legal and professional obligations

Principle #6- Physical therapists shall enhance their expertise though the lifelong acquisition and refinement of knowledge, skills, abilities, and professional behaviors.

Principle #7- Physical therapists shall promote orgasnizational behaviors and buisness practices that benefit patients/clients and society.

Principle #8- Physical therapists shall participate in efforts to meet the health needs of people locally, nationally, or globally.

http://www.apta.org/uploadedFiles/APTAorg/About_Us/Policies/HOD/Ethics/CodeofEthics.pdf

Post this code/statement for the following countries: USA, India, China, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, and Isreal

-So the one for the USA is listed above but as for the rest of the countries there is this site:

http://www.wcpt.org/policy/ps-ethical-responsibilities

Ethical principle 1

Physical therapists respect the rights and dignity of all individuals.
Everyone who seeks the services of a physical therapist has the right to service regardless of age, gender, race, nationality, religion, ethnic origin, creed, colour, sexual orientation, disability, health status or politics.
Physical therapists should assure that patients/clients have the right to:
  • the highest quality physical therapy services
  • information about the physical therapy services
  • make an informed consent
  • confidentiality
  • have access to their physical therapy data
  • health education and health promotion services
  • choose who should be informed on his/her behalf

Ethical principle 2

Physical therapists comply with the laws and regulations governing the practice of physical therapy in the country in which they practise.
Physical therapists will have a full understanding of the laws and regulations governing the practice of physical therapy. They have the right to refuse to treat or otherwise intervene when, in their opinion, the service is not in the best interests of the patient/client.
Physical therapists have the right to advocate for patient/client access to physical therapist services when, in their opinion, there is restricted access to those who have the capacity to benefit.

Ethical principle 3

Physical therapists accept responsibility for the exercise of sound judgement.
Physical therapists are professionally independent and autonomous practitioners. They make independent judgements in the provision of services for which they have knowledge and skills.
With each patient/client, physical therapists undertake appropriate examination/assessment to allow the development of a diagnosis. In light of the diagnosis and other relevant information about the patient/client and their goals, physical therapists determine the prognosis/plan of care and implement the interventions/treatment. When the goals have been achieved or further benefits can no longer be obtained, the physical therapist shall inform and discharge the patient/client. When the diagnosis is not clear or the required intervention/treatment is not within the realm of physical therapist practice, the physical therapist shall inform the patient/client and facilitate a referral to other professionals.
Physical therapists shall not delegate to another health professional or support worker any activity that requires the unique skill, knowledge and judgement of the physical therapist.
If the patient/client has been referred to the physical therapist by a medical practitioner and the treatment programme prescribed is not appropriate in the judgement of the physical therapist, then the physical therapist should consult with the referring medical practitioner.
Physical therapists have the right to expect co-operation from their colleagues.

Ethical principle 4

Physical therapists provide honest, competent and accountable professional services.
Physical therapists shall:
  • ensure that their behaviour and conduct is professional at all times
  • deliver timely, patient/client-specific physical therapy intervention/treatment in line with the individual’s goals
  • ensure that patients/clients understand the nature of the service being provided, especially the anticipated costs (both time and financial)
  • undertake a continuous, planned, personal development programme designed to maintain and enhance professional knowledge and skills
  • maintain appropriate patient/client records to allow effective evaluation of the patient’s/client's care and evaluation of the physical therapist's practice
  • not disclose any information about a patient/client to a third party without the patient’s/client's permission or prior knowledge, unless such disclosure is required by law
  • participate in peer review and other forms of practice evaluation, the results of which shall not be disclosed to another party without the permission of the physical therapist
  • maintain data to facilitate service performance measurement and make that data available to other agents as required by mutual agreement
  • not allow their services to be misused
The ethical principles governing the practice of physical therapy shall take precedence over any business or employment practice. Where such conflict arises, the physical therapist shall make all efforts to rectify the matter, seeking the assistance of the national physical therapy association if required.

Ethical principle 5

Physical therapists are committed to providing quality services.
Physical therapists shall:
  • be aware of the currently accepted standards of practice and undertake activities which measure their conformity
  • participate in continuing professional development to enhance their basic knowledge and to provide new knowledge
  • support research that contributes to improved patient/client interventions and service delivery
  • keep up to date with the best evidence available and implement it in their practice
  • support quality education in academic and clinical settings
Physical therapists engaged in research shall ensure that they:
  • abide by all current rules and policies applying to the conduct of research on human subjects
  • have obtained subjects’ consent
  • protect subjects’ confidentiality
  • protect subjects’ safety and well-being
  • do not engage in fraud or plagiarism
  • fully disclose any research support and appropriately acknowledge any assistance
  • report any breaches of the rules to appropriate authorities
  • freely share the results of their research, especially in journals and conference presentations
Physical therapists in the role of employer shall:
  • ensure all employees are properly and duly qualified, ensuring compliance with statutory requirements
  • apply current management principles and practices to the conduct of the service, with particular attention to appropriate standards of personnel management
  • ensure policies and procedures are properly developed, implemented and monitored
  • ensure that clinical practice is appropriately evaluated and audited
  • provide adequate opportunities for staff education and personal development based on effective performance appraisal

Ethical principle 6

Physical therapists are entitled to a just and fair level of remuneration for their services.
Physical therapists shall:
  • ensure that their fee schedules are based on prevailing market conditions
  • ensure that fees charged offer value for money
  • ensure as much as possible that reimbursement from third-party funders are reflective of and consistent with good practice (third-party funders should not seek to exert control in any way that restricts the scope of practice of physical therapists or inhibits their right to fair remuneration)
  • ensure that influence is not used for personal gain
  • ensure that sound business principles are applied when dealing with suppliers, manufacturers and other agents

Ethical principle 7

Physical therapists provide accurate information to patients/clients, other agencies and the community about physical therapy and about the services physical therapists provide.
Physical therapists:
  • shall participate in public education programmes, providing information about the profession
  • shall inform the public and referring professionals truthfully about the nature of their service so that individuals are more able to make a decision about the use of the service
  • may advertise their services
  • shall not use false, fraudulent, misleading, deceptive, unfair or sensational statements or claims
  • shall claim only those titles which correctly describe their professional status

Ethical principle 8

Physical therapists contribute to the planning and development of services that address the health needs of the community.
Physical therapists have a duty and obligation to participate in planning services designed to provide optimum community health.
Physical therapists are obliged to work toward achieving justice in the provision of health services for all people

 


Blog Post 6: Diversity

Talk about what diversity means to you. And explain how valuing and championing diversity will help you in your career.

Diversity to me means encorporating different elements into whatever it is you are doing. It means adding  variety to your life. Take my job as a Resident Advisor right now for an example. In order to be a really good Resident Advisor you need to be diverse in your life especially when it comes time to different races, religions, backgrounds, and beliefs. It means that you should be open and want to find out more information about topics that you do not already no a lot about. The more that you diversify your life the better you can relate and conversate with your residents on your floor. For me the more diverse your floor is the more opportunities you will have thoughout the year to learn more. People develop and have certain attributes that they possess. Not everyone is good at everything in life. That is why if you are managing a company someday you should select people that are different from one another. The same reasons why a Resident Advisor should diversify themselves and their floor apply to any career. In this case one in Physical Therapy.

Post the diversity statements from 5 companies or organizations in your field of interest, comment how they are similar and/or different. How do each of these fit with your own diversity values?

     Mayo Clinic Health System


Our mission is to inspire hope in order to meet the emotional and spiritual needs of our patients, families and staff.
Our mission interface is to be the specialists in meeting the emotional, crisis, and spiritual needs of our patients, families and staff through:
  • Integrated clinical practice
    • By sharing with other disciplines in interdisciplinary rounds and through other interactions with staff rather than acting solo.
    • By working as a fellow team member collaborating with other disciplines in the overall patients plan of care.
  • Research
    • By utilizing best practices in spiritual care.
    • By collecting information on the effectiveness of pastoral outcomes and on other processes by the usage of metrics and research.
  • Education
    • By providing on-going continuing education to departmental chaplains and other health care staff through in-services and the like.
    • By providing pastoral care training opportunities through Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) internships and CEUs to help spiritual care providers to grow in their competency to meet spiritual needs of people.

     Sacred Heart Hospital

Our Mission
The primary purpose of Sacred Heart Hospital is to provide a structure and the means whereby the Hospital Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis can continue their apostolic mission to serve the sick, the aged, the poor and the terminally ill without regard to race, color, creed or national origin. The primary concern of Sacred Heart Hospital and the Hospital Sisters is the patient's well-being—spiritual, physical, psychological and social.

     Shriners Hospital for Children

Our mission.

Shriners Hospitals for Children has a mission to:
  • Provide the highest quality care to children with neuromusculoskeletal conditions, burn injuries and other special healthcare needs within a compassionate, family-centered and collaborative care environment.
  • Provide for the education of physicians and other healthcare professionals.
  • Conduct research to discover new knowledge that improves the quality of care and quality of life of children and families.
This mission is carried out without regard to race, color, creed, sex or sect, disability, national origin or ability of a patient or family to pay.

     Rusk County Memorial Hospital

  • To provide a broad range of high quality, primary, acute, medical care services that will meet most of the health care needs of the people of Rusk County and the adjoining area.

  • To provide skilled geriatric nursing care with a full range of medical services available in the nursing home.

  • To promote public wellness and the prevention of illness and discomfort through the education and continued learning of our populace.

  • To provide assistance and encouragement for health care outreach to our populace, through cooperation and collaboration on a range of social services, chemical dependency, counseling, and public home health nursing services.

  • To provide attractive and wholesome working conditions, competitive compensation levels, and open communications to encourage the employment and retention of competent and enthusiastic employees.

  • To provide educational experiences for health care personnel in a clinical setting.

  • To maintain an open relationship with its medical staff to insure an effective utilization of its resources and an inflow of physicians.

  • To provide an environment that welcomes the clergy of all faiths to minister to the patients' needs.

  • To maintain, as a non-profit organization, an economically viable operation through astute stewardship and vigorous cost containment


  •      Northwestern Memorial Hospital

    Our Mission

    Northwestern Memorial is an academic medical center hospital where the patient comes first. We are an organization of caregivers who aspire to consistently high standards of quality, cost-effectiveness and patient satisfaction.
    We seek to improve the health of the communities we serve by delivering a broad range of services with sensitivity to the individual needs of our patients and their families.
    We are bonded in an essential academic and service relationship with Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The quality of our services is enhanced through their integration with education and research in an environment that encourages excellence of practice, critical inquiry and learning.

    Blog Post 5: PDP

    Post your complete PDP

    My Professional Development Plan- This includes how I plan to finish my undergraduate degree and start a graduate degree.

    Assessment of skills and talents
    • Easy to talk to
    • Personality Test (ENFJ)
    • Adaptability
    • Ideation
    • Achiever

    Values and interests

    The things that I value the most in life are spending quality time with people that are close to me such as family and friends, my education, and my faith.



    • Purpose/Mission- I intend on becoming a Physical Therapist by the age of 25.
    • Short Term Goals- Attend a Student Affairs Conference in Wisconsin Dells on October 21 and 22 in order to learn new innovative ways on how to secure a Graduate Assistantship with the school I hopefully get accepted to for Physical Therapy. Also to attend the Oshkosh Placement Exchange conference this year on March 1st-4th in order to set up some interviews with potential employers for the grad internship. 
    •  1 year time- I plan to be in Graduate school either at the University of New England in Maine or University Glendale in Arizona. Along with that I hope to acquire a graduate assistantship with the school that I get accepted too. Also become more in depth and knowledgeable about the APTA, which is the American Physical Therapy Association.
    • 5 year plan- Be out of graduate school and working in a physical therapy department. Could be at an out patient facility or a sports clinic. Would be really sweet to be working as a physical therapist in Alaska.
    • How to do that- Already took the G.R.E and applied to these schools, however getting an "A" in all my classes this semester would help. Attending more Conferences like the one in the Dells. Make contact with a couple of important people. Continue to develop networking practices.
    • Back-up Plan- If I do not get accepted to a school this year I will be looking for other jobs. If I have to do this I will be looking for jobs that are related to the DNR field.
    • Skills I posses- I have great communication and leadership skills that I have acquired over the years of being a Resident Advisor and Assistant Athletic Trainer here at Stout. I am a peoples person and have a very positive charisma about me.      
    • Walls that I may need to overcome- If I do not get accepted into a DPT program this year then I will need to find a temporary job. However statistics would be working against me when I say I would re-apply for graduate school in 2013. If I found a job that I like other than physical therapy I might just stick with that instead of pursuing a DPT.
    • However with all this said ultimately I hope to live a happy life, married with a couple of children just living life out to its fullest no matter what career path I choose or what country or state I am living in.



    Plan on graduating from the University of Wisconsin Stout with an Applied Science, Interdisciplinary science concentration, with a minor in health and fitness in May 2012.

    Monday, October 10, 2011

    Blog Post 4: Carbon Dioxide Paper Evaluation

    1. Post your group's presentation.

    2. Reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the criteria established. Where these good criteria, or should there have been different criteria established?

    The criteria that was establiished by the class was very precise. There was not a whole lot of criteria that the class came up with. That meant that the information presented by the various groups should all be very similar in content. The only thing that would be different is the way in which the groups present the information. This was very apparent when the groups were giving their presentations. I did however think that we should have created the criteria before we were given our group number. I thought that since the class knew what side they would be arguing for before creating the criteria, there would be more people trying to sway the criteria towards their side of the argument. Turns out that it was not that big of deal because very few people tried to sway the criteria. The overall criteria for the paper was good. It was not biased towards either of the two sides presenting. Strengths included, criteria was agreed upon by class not already given too the class, it was fair to both sides and it was very open and not extremely specific. I cannot think of a weakness.

    3. Reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the presentations as a whole. Consider the "yes" and the "no" groups as a whole.

    As a whole, I thought that the presentations where way better than the ones we gave on the "One Cent." The quality of the presentations was significantly better than our last ones. One thing that helped improve the quality of the presentation was the fact that all the groups took the idea that only one person needs to be presenting the information that the group had reasearched instead of multiple people. However, I feel as if some of the groups had people in them better suited for the "talking" and the actual "presentation" of the findings, but decided to do more of the research portion of it instead. I think that overall both groups did a good job. The "No" groups could have used a little more help on rebuttlaing questions asked by the class and it was very evident in some of the "Yes" groups that they, or at least the speaker, did not believe in what they were telling the class. Let me just add and say that it is almost impossible to give a great presentation on a topic if you do not believe that what you are saying is true. People tend to give better presentation if they believe in what they are saying.

    4. Reflect on the group management of your group. What went well, what did not?

    Our group had pretty good management skills. I think at first it was hard to distinguish what everyones skills were in the group. Once we figured out what each person could bring to the ttable we were able to effeciently divide our group up into smaller parts where everyone had their own areas to research. This allowed for a better use of time. After everyone had gathered the information that they had been given our group met outside of class to put it all together. One person who was proficient with powerpoint created the actual powerpoint, while the other members discussed what we should put on it. I liked this method because now instead of just one person adding and editing the powerpoint, the entire group knew all the information.

    5. Reflect on the personal "ethic" you felt in your group. Did you believe in your position? where you arguing against your beliefs?

    I had a hard time with this one. The reason why it was hard for me to argue for the paper is because I did not believe that the paper was indeed correct. Sometimes in life you are thrown into things that you really do not want to do and the only option is to really make the best of it. The content of the paper is what bothered me the most even though we were not suppose to even take that into consideration or bring it up in our presentations. Naturally however, when researching this topic you are going to find information about the content of the article.

    6. Did the class make the correct decision when considering the broader impacts of the global warming/climate change debate? Why?

    The class was not debating the broader impacts of the global warming/climate change debate. We were debating on the legitamacy of the paper being presented. Even if this question was asked I still believe that no the class did not make the correct decision...Well maybe they did, but not for the right reasons. When you say that the winning group/groups get more points than the losing groups of course the majority of the time people are going to vote for their own group. Especially the high academic achievers in the class. Why would they vote for the other team if they know that they would lose points in the class if the other team one. It would have been interesting to count up the number of people in the "No" groups and the number of people in the "Yes" groups and see how those results would compare to the final results of the voting.

    7. Explain the statement, "What we do in the US, soon will not matter." Provide evidence to justify this statement.

    It means that it does not matter how enviornmentally friendly or earthly the United States is. It does not matter how many electric cars we are producing, how many wind, solar, or water powered devices we create. It does not matter how many regulations we put on factories regualting the amount of pollution those factories put in the air.

    8. Explain this statement, "What we do as individuals matters." Provide evidence to justify this statement.

    It means if enough people can join together and form a group, people can make big changes to things. It all starts with one persons motivation to make a difference in the world. If there is something that is going wrong in life...change it. If there is something that a person does not like...Then try to change it. Taking it on a more global scale if there is an apparent problem that needs to be delt with take the initiative on yourself to start small with you as an "individual" to tackle the problem then as you open more peoples eyes to the problem other will join your casue.