Healthcare Ethical Dilemma

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The clinic in downtown Centerville is closing. A new hospital will open soon in suburban Centerville in attempt to deliver health care in an effective manner by serving a low-risk, mostly privately insured population. But the downtown population, twice the size of the suburban population, contains a large percentage of Medicare recipients who are a higher risk demographic. Although the overall services in in Centerville will increase with the new hospital, there is a decrease to the access to health care for the vulnerable downtown population.
The ethical dilemma posed in the Centerville example is the disparity of access to the delivery of health care. The example of the high-risk Medicare recipients describes the principles of justice,
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By working cooperatively in the delivery of health care, we can reduce the disadvantage that lack of resources brings. Health care maintenance affords the individual an opportunity for normal functioning and participation in society.
The described scenario is the also the ethical dilemma facing Centerville’s Christian nurses. The nurses see firsthand the economic disparity in the two populations. They also understand the link between the medical infrastructure and the general infrastructure of Centerville. The link is the health care delivery system should provide fair and just allocation of resources, much as the city of Centerville should provide adequate access to transportation, green spaces, recreation, and affordable food.
In a Christian framework nurses develop personal relationships with their patients by developing a faith-based practice. Their nursing practice promotes physical and spiritual healing and incorporates the moral conviction to deliver health are that is equitable. They realize that all people are made in the likeness and image of God so the sanctity of life is of vital importance in judgments regarding patient care. Just as Jesus taught us to love our neighbors as ourselves, his disciple Paul preached for respect for the human body. In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, St Paul taught, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your

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