Tonya’s Case Ethics and Professional Codes What are the Most Relevant End-of-Life Issues In Health Care Ethics As They Relate To This Case?

The person’s right to voice their choices on end-of-life treatment autonomously has to be ethically respected, considering the utilization of advanced treatment and the disease prognosis. The healthcare professional needs to respect the autonomy of the patient while putting into consideration the limitations of this ethical principle and carry out their duties without doing any harm to the patient (Wright, 2017).

The physician can work using the deontological theory and carry out their duties to gain the best outcome for the patient while acting for the benefit of the patient (Skelton,2017). Although the patient’s parents have a level of autonomy (the patient has not reached the age of making autonomous treatment decisions) in the choice of treatment, the physician can explain the treatment implications and emphasize the consequences. The parents will need to perform a self-beneficence on behalf of their daughter to make the autonomous decision to go ahead with the treatment and either prolong the days that the patient is on life support or not go ahead with a futile treatment for society’s greatest good by saving on emotional stress while saving on costs. If the patient’s parents insist that they want their daughter to continue on life support, which the physician advises is futile, then the physician has the responsibility to give the facts to the parents on withdrawing or withholding medical treatment and ensure there is no unnecessary resource utilization, without causing the patient harm (Kamik & Kanekar, 2016). The physician should respect the values and beliefs of the parents prior to withdrawing or withholding treatment or giving DNR instructions. The physician’s duty is also to preserve the life of the patient, though this ought not to be confused with the unnecessary utilization of resources, thus inflicting additional harm through the continuation of futile treatments.

The nursing code of ethics that supports this view is Provision 1: The nurse practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and personal attributes of every person, without prejudice. The nurses will need to establish relationships of trust with the patient and also the patient’s parents and set aside any prejudice and bias. Provision 1.3 states that the Nature of Health Nurses respects the dignity and rights of all human beings regardless of the factors contributing to their health status. A nurse ought to remember that the patient’s worth is not affected by proximity to death, functional status, disability, or disease (Olson & Stokes, 2016). Hence, although the patient is in a vegetative state and the parents have refused euthanasia, the patient still needs to be treated with dignity.