Ethical Dilemmas in Allied Health

By: Janine M Idziak

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis: Over the past several decades, health care ethics has developed and flourished as an academic discipline. The field now includes a standard set of topics. Issues such as abortion, assisted reproduction, terminating life-sustaining treatment, euthanasia and physician aid-in-dying, confidentiality, and the allocation of scarce medical resources are commonly covered in textbooks on health care ethics. However, the perspective assumed in these textbooks may be limited in com¬parison with the actual range of health care services and types of health care professionals. Case studies on ethical dilemmas typically focus on physicians and nurses in a hospital setting. This textbook, on the other hand, approaches the standard problems of health care ethics from the perspective of the allied health fields. Case studies always involve allied health professionals, giving recognition to them as an integral part of the care giving team.