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Biomedical subjects

Louise M Terry

Publications and source records attributed to Louise M Terry.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

An integrated approach to resource allocation.

Resource allocation decisions are often made on the basis of clinical and cost effectiveness at the expense of ethical inquiry into what is acceptable. This paper proposes that a more compassionate model of resource allocation would be achieved through integrating ethical awareness with clinical, financial and legal input. Where a publicly-funded healthcare system is involved, it is suggested that having an agency that focuses solely on cost-effectiveness leaving medical, legal and ethical considerations to others would help depoliticise rationing decisions and command greater public acceptance.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗

Reflective practice in nursing ethics education: international collaboration.

BACKGROUND: The Internet provides the opportunity for international comparative study and collaboration when learning about ethics in clinical nursing practice. AIM: This paper aims to discuss Internet links developed between US and UK postregistration nursing students who were reflecting on clinical practice in order to explore how political and organizational structures of the health care system affect ethical decision-making. DISCUSSION: An analysis is presented of the stages in developing an exchange course for students from these countries, which involved various combinations of classroom-based teaching, on-line discussions and international visits by students and teachers during its evolution. The strengths and weaknesses of the different methods are considered, and future developments identified. CONCLUSION: The Internet collaboration resulted in postregistration nursing students using reflection on practice in the study of ethics in clinical practice and an understanding of how systems structures and procedures affect ethical decision making. Internet-assisted teaching offers opportunities for collaboration, and student participants demonstrate sophisticated critical thinking in ethical decision-making. Issues of access barriers and motivation remain challenges to wider use.

Clinical Competence↗

Protecting the interests of the child bone marrow donor.

At a time when designer babies have been created to act as cord blood donors to sick siblings, ethical debate has focused predominantly on the extent to which it is acceptable to create one human being to assist another. However, children are frequently used this way, by their families and doctors who extract their bone marrow, to try to save the life of another, usually a sibling. With any life-threatening illness, there is the possibility that the urgency of the sick sibling's need means that the short-term welfare of the donor child receives less attention than it should by parents and doctors. This article suggests ways to protect the interests of such children and empower them within the decision-making process and concludes that the drive to save life must be tempered by recognition of the intrinsic worth of donor children and their rights not to be exploited.

Bone Marrow Transplantation↗

Point-of-care testing and recognizing and preventing errors.

Jenny, the practice nurse of a busy GP surgery, was asked to carry out a commercially available test to exclude a diagnosis of infectious mononucleosis. The test was negative. The patient was prescribed amoxycillin and later developed a severe rash. However, the blood tests from the local pathology laboratory showed that the patient did have infectious mononucleosis. The GP discovered from colleagues that over the last few weeks other patients as the surgery had been recorded as having negative tests but positive laboratory results had later followed.

Diagnostic Errors↗