Faith Community presentation
...our commitment to the public. That openness attracts a wide variety of believers--Board of Directors, staff, patients and their families, as well as others--each with infinite influences on his or her own thinking. I’m not sure how many of our stakeholders realize or understand the differences between ethics, laws, beliefs, oaths, etc. 2. We have a case in our Neo-Natal Ward, where Child Protective Services is in the process of taking custody of the baby and threatening to file charges against us because of the way we provided services or, as they allege, failed to provide services. All this trouble, despite our actions being in agreement with the parents’ wishes. 3. Last week, three staff members in the ICU initiated Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) directives. The only problem was that no written orders to that effect existed. At the same time, I have some sincere, qualified staff that are driven by a personal directive that says ‘we have to do all that we can.’ In another recent incident, staff members did not follow DNR directives even though these were in place. Moreover, all three events had the support of the patients’ families. 4. “And how are our doctors responding? Well, they’re putting patients first, I guess! From various interpretations of the Hippocratic oath, to assorted compassions and passions regarding the ‘right to die,’ they are all over the place. From managed care to capitation, health care givers are experiencing a tremendous loss of power. 5. “Nonetheless, we have wonderful people who care very much about the well-being of their patients; so much so, in fact, that one of our hospital pharmacists is filling uninsured prescriptions by accepting payment in installments. 6. Two of our counselors are treating some of their clients pro bono--unauthorized! At the other end of the spectrum, some staff members care so much about 7. Faith’s survival that they refuse to serve patients unless they confirm insurance coverage first. You can imagine how popular that is with patients and the media alike. All we need is for someone to die because we d...