Heath Ethics

Research

Presented to Sir Orville

Done by Christopher Charles Wambura

Ethico-moral responsibility of nurses in surgery

To feel in and be responsive in the situation

Most of the patients in the surgery often show vulneralbility before surgery. Its the resposibility of the
nurse to fill in and be responsive to how the patient wants at the perticular time. Different patients need
different things at a time. Some would prefer talking, some would preffer silence. With regards to
different patients nurses are needed to fill in with the patients and make sure patient are provided with
the care they need.

To care for the patient

A common responsibility in the surgical team is to show that they care for the patient and do not
abandon the patient for practical things but always have an interest in the patient. Intra-operatively, the
nurses's patient relies on how he/she experiences the situation by continuously saying what is going on.
A common responsibility in the surgical team is to care for and not abandon the patient. The nurse
constantly keeps a watchful eye on the patient.

To preserved patient's dignity

Maintaining patient dignity is a personal ethical value. nurses are affected when unnecessary
conversations are entered into the operating theatre and the patient's dignity is not preserved. If a
conversation is to be conducted, it should be done professionally and considering what is said now,
whether the patient is awake or not.

nurses are responsible for maintaining patient dignity and being personally affected when other in the
surgical team do not take professional responsibility. All nursing activities must be carried out by
agreement in the surgical team.

Sterilization and Mutilation Applications and Moral Issues

What is Sterilization?
In Microbiology:
Sterilization refers to any process that effectively kills or eliminates transmissible agents (such as
fungi, bacteria, viruses,spore forms, etc.) from a surface,equipment, article of food or medication,
orbiological culture medium. Sterilization does not, however, remove prions. Sterilization can be
achieved through application of heat, chemicals, irradiation, high pressure or filtration.

What is Sterilization?
As surgical procedure:
Sterilization is a surgical technique leavinga male or female unable to reproduce. It isa method of
birth control.

Common sterilization methods include:

Vasectomyin males.
The vasa deferentia, the tubes which connect the testicles to the prostate,are cut and closed. This
prevents sperm produced in the testicles to enter the ejaculated semen (which is mostly produced in the
seminal vesicles and prostate).

Common sterilization methods include:

Tubal ligationin females, known popularly as "having one's tubes tied".
The Fallopian tubes, which allow the sperm to fertilize the ovum and would carry the fertilized ovum to
the uterus, are closed. This generally involves a general anesthetic and alaparotomy or laparoscopic
approach to cut,clip or cauterize the fallopian tubes.

Other procedure that result insterility:

Hysterectomy in females
. The uterus is surgically removed, permanently preventing pregnancy and some diseases, such
asuterine cancer.

Castration in males
. The testicles aresurgically removed. This is frequently used forthe sterilization of animals, with added
effects such as docility, greatly reduced sexual behaviour, and faster weight gain (which is desirable in
some cases, for example to accelerate meat production).

Moral Issues on Sterilization

The Catholic church has strongly condemned all artificial methods of Contraception (aposition also
held by most Protestant churches up to 1930, when the Anglican church voted for change).

This includes the contraceptive pill, condomsand also medical procedures such as Vasectomy and
Sterilisation. In fact the churchre gards contraception as mortally sinful. The official position is stated
in the papalencyclical Humanae Vitae, issued by PopePaul VI in 1968.

Moral Issues on Sterilization

Therefore We base Our words on the first principles of a human and Christian doctrine of marriage when We are
obliged once more to declare that the direct interruption of the generative process already begun and,
above all, all direct abortion, even for therapeutic reasons, are to be absolutely excluded as lawful means
of regulating the number of children. Equally to becondemned, as the magisterium of the Church has affirmed on many
occasions, is direct sterilization, whether of the man or of he woman, whether permanent or temporary."

"Similarly excluded is any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse, is
specifically intended to prevent procreation - whether as an end or as a means."Humanae Vitae

Ethical Issues
The main issues that raise ethical dilemmas following the development of assisted reproduction techniques are:
the right to procreate or reproduce; the process of in vitro fertilization itself — is it morally acceptable to
interfere in the reproduction process?; the moral status of the embryo; the involvement of a third party in the
reproductive process by genetic material donation; the practice of surrogacy; cryopreservation of pre-embryos;
genetic manipulation; experiments on pre-embryos,etc..

For those who consider life to begin at conception abortional ways equals murder and is therefore forbidden.
Those who believe in the absolute autonomy of the woman over her body take the other extreme approach.

The development of new effective contraceptive methods hasa profound impact on women's lives. By the use of
contraception/sterilization it is possible to lessen maternal,infant and child mortality and to reduce the
prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases.

What is Mutilation?
Mutilation or maiming is an act or physical injury that degrades theappearance or function of the
(human)body, usually without causing death.

Usage of term
The term is usually used to describe thevictims of accidents, torture, physicalassault, or certain
premodern forms of punishment.

Moral Issues on Mutilation

Theory: The principle of totality pre supposes that “parts exist for the whole ... The good of the part is
subordinated to the good of the whole; the whole is the determining factor for the part and can dispose
of its own interest.”Aristotle puts it briefly as totum quam parte,prius esse necesse est. The main
notions on which the principle grounds itself are “thewhole, the part, and their mutual
relationships.”Regarding the part, Aristotle explains it in the following manner:
Moral Issues on Mutilatio
1) A part denotes any portion of a quantuminto which it can “be divided, for that which istaken from a
quantum qua quantum” remains always a part of it.
2) Part can be understood as the constituent element of a dividable kind “apart from the quantity.
3) Whole, which includes a part, can be divided.
4) Finally, the constituent “elements in the definition which explain a thing are also parts of the whole.”

Moral Issues on Mutilation

The justification of mutilation on the basis of theprinciple of totality by moral theologians of the 17 th
century, viz., L. Molina, L. Leonardus, J. De Lugo, and P.Laymann followed the same reasoning as
Aquinas without any difference.

We do not find any new developments in their teachings.As well, moral theologians of the 18th and the
19thcenturies accepted the conclusion regarding mutilationin the same manner as their predecessors.

Again, the teachings of the theologians in the first forty years of the 20th century also continued in the
same traditional direction. In addition, even though thescholastics unanimously accepted the
justification of mutilation by Thomas Aquinas, there are differences inthe application of these
principles to particular issues.

Moral Issues on Mutilation

1) A diseased part is harmful to the whole body.
2) Another question pertains to “the predicament of a person who was ordered by a tyrant to cut off his
own hand.”
3) Another case is “the necessity toamputate an extremity.”

Moral Issues on Mutilation

Above all, concerning the morality of mutilation,traditional moral theologians base their arguments on
the fifth commandment, that man/woman has only alimited right over his/her body.

More precisely, mutilation on the ground of the principleof totality is justified only by the physical
good of theperson.

Preserve of bodily function integrity

Everyone has a right to make decission on what happens to his or her own body. Bodily integrity
remains a central issue for organ transplantation. The process of removing an organ from one body and
resettling it into another body necessarily requires transgressing the physical integrity of the human
body. This process raises different psychological and moral issues with respect to ideas about how we
should treat our bodies or the bodies of our loved ones. On the one hand, ideas about the physical
integrity of the body play an important role in decision-making by individuals and their families as to
their willingness to participate in organ donation programs. For this reason, it is an important
consideration to take into account when understanding those factors that can limit the potential supply
of available organs for transplantation. On the other hand, ideas of the physical integrity of the body
also play an important role in setting constraints on what is viewed as permissible in relation to
possible policies or intervention practices aimed at increasing the general availability of donor organs.

References
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6056433/
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-16441-0_3
https://www.scribd.com/presentation/11562401/Sterilization-and-Mutilation