80-year-old man in a coma

An 80-year-old man in a coma with no hope of recovery is admitted to a facility where you are employed as a healthcare administrator. The man has not prepared any healthcare directive such as a living will or medical power of attorney. The patient’s religion does not require artificial nutrition or hydration. The family members agree that the patient does not want to die with tubes attached to him. The doctor has met with the family before preparing the form for orders. The doctor informs the family that the patient will die in a few days without having a tube inserted for water and food. The feeding tube may keep him alive for several years. If there is no feeding tube for hydration, the patient’s death might be painful or uncomfortable. The doctor prefers to provide the feeding tube, but the family disapproves of the measure. The doctor refers the case to the ethics committee to avoid any further risk to the facility.

As a member of the ethics committee, explore the following options:

Transfer the patient to an inpatient hospice to die a natural death, treating any pain with medications.

Keep the patient in the facility, and go to court for an order to insert under the contention that, without the feeding tube, he will die.

What principles will the ethics committee rely on to solve this ethical dilemma?

Evaluate the risk involved in keeping the patient at your facility and inserting the tube. How could this risk be eliminated?

What are the roles of external regulatory bodies in this case?

What are some barriers to quality management initiatives for the elderly population?

List some advocacy groups, and suggest their roles in creating a social change in the community.

Deliverable Requirements

The requirements are as follows:

Write a 5-page commentary as a member of the ethics committee, and present your position or decision in the case.

Cite 5 peer-reviewed sources in APA format.

Submitting your assignment in APA format means, at a minimum, you will need the following:

Title page: Remember the running head. The title should be in all capitals.

Length: There should be at least 5 pages.

Abstract: This is a summary of your paper, not an introduction. Begin writing in third person.

Body: This begins on the page following the Title page and Abstract page and must be double-spaced (be careful not to triple- or quadruple-space between paragraphs). The typeface should be 12-point Times New Roman or 12-point Courier in regular black type. Do not use color, bold type, or italics, except as required for APA-level headings and references. The deliverable length of the body of your paper for this assignment is 5 pages. In-body academic citations to support your decisions and analysis are required. A variety of academic sources is encouraged.

Reference page: References that align with your in-body academic sources are listed on the final page of your paper. The references must be in APA format and use appropriate spacing, hanging indents, italics, and uppercase and lowercase for the type of resource used. Remember that the Reference page is not a bibliography but a further listing of the abbreviated in-body citations used in the paper. Every referenced item must have a corresponding in-body citation.