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Long term Care and Palliative Care

Long term Care and Palliative Care

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Institution

Defending the reference

“Hospice care: comforting the terminally ill” by Mayo Clinic Staff is the source I selected to discuss this topic. The source contributes a lot to the understanding of long-term care and palliative care for the sick. According to Mayo Clinic staff (2013), hospice care forms the best option for a family whose loved one is suffering a terminal illness. In addition, the source provides an in-depth explanation of qualities of a good hospice care. A hospice care is a service given to people who are critically ill and is provided by a team of qualified health care professionals. Health care professionals focus on reducing pain on a patient and giving him or her physical, social, psychological and spiritual needs.

On the other hand, the above reference fits in the category of academic peer-reviewed because it gives a better explanation of what hospice care be and where these services are provided. Moreover, it long gives the relationship between long-term care and palliative care. Some of the qualities of a good hospice care given by the author include maintenance of ethical behavior and consumer rights, high clinical excellence and safety, stewardship and accountability, and compliance with laws and regulations (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2013).

A substantive reply post

Long-term care and palliative care has a significant effect on the health of a person. Patients who participate on this service, also referred to as hospice care gain favorable clinical outcomes. On the other hand, the participating health care professionals’ gains good reputation from families and friends of the ill person when they give them the necessary support needed. Moreover, some sources never focus on the health of an individual instead speaks more of the costs involved and the negative effects of receiving palliative care. The following sources have misled people and discouraged them from accessing hospice care programs.

Reference

Mayo Clinic Staff. (2013). Hospice care: Comforting the terminally ill. Retrieved from:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hospice-care/HQ00860

Long Term Capital Management

Long Term Capital Management

The company failure concept of blind spots is demonstrated in the Long Term Capital Management article by way of forecasting model risks, operational risks, and external events that the firm was ill-prepared to meet. The first problem was with the ways in which LTCM dealt with risk management. The exact same risk management methods that originally brought attention to and identified the issue also made it possible for the liquidation of the portfolio to take place in a measured and controlled manner. Second, the banks had extended LTCM an aggregate amount of credit that was far more than what they would provide to a developing nation of medium size. In particular, there was a problem with the mix of personal investment risk and credit risk that was taken on by the persons who were in charge of the institutions. Other notable factors were the poor information dissemination and an extremely flawed credit analysis.

Reference

Downing, J. (2000). The Professional Risk Managers’ International Association.

Comment to Xing Jia Lee

Your breakdown is very informative and factors in all of the major issues in the article. The way you categorize the issues in Long-Term Capital Management is refreshing and easy to digest.

LOGOS MIX AND MATCH ACTIVITY

LOGOS MIX AND MATCH ACTIVITY

Which type of logos is displayed in the following examples? Definition

Induction

Deduction

Analogy

Difference

Causation

1.

Type of Logos: ___ fallacy of logic_______________

2.

Type of Logos ___strawman fallacy_____________

3.

Type of Logos ____emotional fallacy____________

4.

Type of Logos __fallacy_of logic________________

5.

What type of logos is LeBlanc using to come to the conclusion MFiteJohnson had the “super cold”?

Circular argument fallacy______________

6.

Type of Logos _Ethical fallacy, Post hoc ergo propter hoc _______________

LOGISTICS NETWORK

LOGISTICS NETWORK

Name:

Institutional Affiliation:

Logistics Network

The first thing I would embark on in this design would be to get everyone involved in the entire process, ranging from higher management to all the lowest employee on the company’s payroll, as the decision that we will make not only effect the present, but the future days as well. I will then put together cross-functional teams including someone from the sale department, the marketing department, manufacture, as well as operation. “A cross-functional team can be referred to as a team comprised of professionals drawn from different functional areas within a given company” (Simchi, 2010, pp. 110-1).These teams use concurrent approaches.

According to Tepic, (2011, p. 76)”The logistics design network is simply a strategic decision that possesses long lasting effects, as well as impacts all functions within the company. For the basic success of such a project, several levels of the organization have to be involved”. These are:

Upper Management: This new design has to be aligned with the vision as well as strategic goals of the hiring company. Additionally, such a project might be costly, so management buy-in will be essential in order to ensure that enough resources will be devoted to the project.

Sales and Marketing: Demand forecasts in addition to the anticipated changes in the product design and offerings will affect the network, and the involvement of sales and marketing teams will be required (Donald, 2010).

Manufacturing and Operations: The entire logistics network design will possess an obvious impact on the day-to-day operations of the firm. For the implementation towards success, it is essential that all the people involved with the system of operation on a daily basis will be involved in its design (Simchi, 2010).

The decision showing a single warehouse will be built has been reached up-front. Therefore, we will only need to focus on the final location as well as the capacity of the warehouse, and then determine how much space has to be allocated to each product inside the warehouse. The major steps of the analysis are as outlined below.

Data collection

Location of retail stores, existing warehouses, manufacturing facilities (, and suppliers.

Candidate locations for a new warehouse.

Information about products, i.e., their sizes, shapes and volumes.

Annual demand (past actual plus future estimates) as well as service level requirements of retail stores.

Transportation rates by available modes.

Transportation distances from candidate warehouse locations to retail stores.

Handling, storage as well as fixed costs that are associated with warehousing. Fixed costs have to be expressed as being a function of warehouse capacity (Donald, 2010).

Fixed ordering costs, order frequencies and sizes by product or product family.

Data aggregation

In this case, the following will be included:

Demand require to be aggregated based on the distribution patterns and product types.

Mathematical model building.

Model validation based on the existing network structure.

Selecting of a few low-cost alternatives that are based on the basic mathematical model.

For the final decision, we will incorporate qualitative factors disregarded in the initial mathematical model. For instance, specific regulations and environmental factors.

Optionally, build a detailed simulation model to evaluate these low-cost candidate solutions.

According to Tepic, (2011, pg 65)”With a centralized warehouse, the service level is going to increase and inventory holding costs will be decreasing due to risk pooling. Additionally, fixed costs associated with such warehousing will decrease in a typical way, and inbound transportation costs ranging from the manufacturing facility up to the warehouse level should be less than the total sum of the previous inbound transportation expenditures.” However, we won’t incur increased outbound transportation costs drawn from the focal stockroom to the retailers. In a rundown, the vital configuration exchange off is between transportation expenditures on one hand in addition stock holding expenses and administration level necessities on the other.

In selecting potential stockroom destinations, it is critical to consider issues, for example, land and base conditions, characteristic assets and work accessibility, nearby industry and expense regulations, and open investment (Mallik, 2010). For each of the accompanying commercial enterprises, give particular cases of how the issues recorded above could influence the decision of potential stockroom locales:

automobile fabricating

pharmaceuticals

books

Aircraft fabricating

book circulation

Furniture assembling and circulation

Pc fabricating

In, for example, car producing, autos are typically conveyed over area, and interest is focused around significant urban areas. Therefore, we would expect distribution centers in this industry to be found close extensive urban areas with simple access to expressways and railroads. This would help to decrease the conveyance lead time to dealerships in the urban areas (Donald, 2010).

In the pharmaceutical business, overnight conveyance is normal. Accordingly, closeness to a real airplane terminal is a variable that ought to be considered when picking a stockroom area. Moreover, for crude material distribution centers it is critical that these are near characteristic assets (Simchi, 2010).

In the book business, supplier stockroom areas would be influenced by the accessibility of adjacent regular assets.

With an extensive client build looking for books with respect towards this line, short conveyance lead times are essential. In this manner, in book dissemination, we would hope to discover huge concentrated stockrooms on sensibly valued area where fast transportation modes are accessible (Mallik, 2010). At the end of it all, the warehouse will be fully functional. The logistics network with only one warehouse will be realized out of all the steps described above.

References

Simchi-Levi, D., Kaminsky, P., & Simchi-Levi, E. (2008). Designing and managing the supply

chain: Concepts, strategies, and case studies. (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, pp 110-1

Tepic, J., Tanackov,I., S.Gordan (2011). Ancient Logistics – Historical Timeline and Etymology.

Technical Gazette, pg 76.

Donald, W. (2010). Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Arm. University

of California

L. Torre, Smilowitz, I. (2012). Disaster relief routing: Integrating research and practice Socio

Economic Planning Sciences vol46.

Mallik, S. (2010). “Customer Service in Supply Chain Management”. The Handbook of

Technology Management: Supply Chain Management, Marketing and Advertising, and

Global Management, vol 2 (1 ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey.

R. Ruggeri, A. Perego.(2002). Industrial Logistics

Logistics in Melbourne

Logistics in Melbourne

NameSupervisorInstitutionDate

In Melbourne city shopping centre, system thinking is a process that utilizes the tools, habits and concepts in a bid to develop a proper understanding of the structures of dynamic systems. With the proper understanding of the system, an individual can easily leverage some of the points in the system so to achieve all the desired goals. In an organization when faced with a dilemma where one is supposed to choose between two opposing partner companies, the organization will be forced to look for a company that can be easily leveraged so as to be able to achieve the company’s goal at a lesser price while still being able to reap profits.

This system of thinking uses two models of thinking so as to be able to apply it in the running of the organization. These models are a single and double loop thinking and learning models. Single-loop model is one that involves the connection of a strategy that will be used in action to the results required from the action. This process is common in the way companies are using the feedback that they gain from their customers so as to better run and develop their products. Microsoft and their recent operating system is one such instance. The Windows 8 system did away with many of the fan-favorite approaches that made it easy to use. However, the backlash has resulted in the company basing their decisions to change the operating system based on the feedback from consumers. This is a learning process for the company.

However, the process whereby the company opts to learn from the feedback and to reevaluate their goals and values then reenacting some of their goals is called the double loop thinking model. This is an added step to a single-loop learning model.

Organization leaders need to understand that there is more to a company than just learning from their consumers and the mistakes that their competitors make. It is for this reason that company managers need to apply the double loop of thinking so as to be able to meet the growing demands of their consumers. However, the single-loop of thinking as well needs to be applied. The reason is that, different companies have their own ways of dealing with the unhappiness of some consumers, and thus they try and change their approach based on the feedback. Therefore, there is no wrong or right method of thinking but it all depends on the situation.

To realize the changes that are taking place outside the organization, company leaders need to be able to use the double thinking model. This is because, they are supposed to look at the situation and determine whether they are affected. If so, they will need to reevaluate the goals and values of the company and conform to them. However, within the organization, there are different approaches applied for different situations.

In conclusion, for a company to thrive in a business industry there is no particular model that can be applied to the company. The company leadership will have to change their approaches based on the instances.

References

Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow (1st ed.). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.Northouse, P. (2013). Leadership (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks: SAGE.[1]Northouse, P. (2013). Leadership (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks: SAGEKahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow (1st ed.). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Logistics and Supply Chain Article Analysis

Logistics and Supply Chain Article Analysis

Logistics is defined as the monitoring of procurement, planning, execution and movement of materials, communication, service and capital flows with the aim of attaining an objective or a strategy. It might also be defined in other terms as the management of inventory both on transit and in rest. According to Robeson (1994) logistics did not play a crucial role in the success of the company. The meaning of logistics was not well known and accepted in the 1970s and its function was mainly known as distribution of finished good and the receiving and storage of raw materials. In recent times, logistics has gained acceptance by most businesses, industries and markets. In addition, the crucial role of supply chain management has created competitiveness as well as company profitability which have in turn made logistics an important strategy (McGinnis & Kohn, 2002).

In strategic logistic planning, change is inevitable in order to succeed in the competitive global economy. Change comes in various forms which include faster delivery of products and service, sophisticated technologies and differentiation of products. The reason for all this is to have a responsive and more dynamic logistic system which gives the company a competitive edge (Robeson, 1994). A logistics strategy will only give a company a competitive advantage if the company can provide the products and service when they are needed by the consumer and at the right time.

In the twenty first century, people have become very busy and it is difficult for them to go out to a store and shop for what they need. Most companies have developed strategies on how to meet the needs of these customers. Best buy is an example of such a company that has developed strategies to attract such consumers who are willing to make a purchase, but do not have the time to do so. They provide catalogues for these customers who after selecting what they wish to buy, through the website, their products are delivered to them right on their doorsteps. This is a convenient way for the customer to make a purchase without physically going to the store. There is a growing need for such kind of convenience in the world. This need has directly affected the supply chain where the company is required to not only deliver to the different distribution points, but also directly to the customers. This type of distribution comes with its advantages because a company representative interacts directly with the customer and is able to gain information on the different needs the customer wishes could be met. A flexible logistic strategy is very crucial for the success of a business and for effective competition (Robeson, 1994).

Effective management of logistics and supply chain is crucial in satisfying customer requirements for a product or service. It is important that the products or services are supplied to the customer at the right time and at the right place at a minimum cost. Poor logistics which might include a poor location can have severe implications on the whole company. The effective movement of goods and raw materials from the point of manufacture to the final consumer is very important in today’s business environment (Lingham, 2008). The location of the supply chain should be in such a way that the consumer is able to access the product or service with ease. Choosing a poor location would have negative implication meaning that the consumers would prefer to buy products or services from other competitors. This makes it hard for the company to compete in the industry. Having poor location affects distribution negatively making it very expensive to supply the products which will mean that the price for the products will be higher than the price set by other competitors making it hard for the company to thrive in the industry (Lingham, 2008).

The choice of transport is very important in ensuring that products are delivered to the consumer in time. The time between the order and the delivery should be minimized so as to meet the needs of the consumer in the shortest time possible (Lingham, 2008). With the aim of reducing transport costs, different companies have been known to use the slowest means of transport which are obviously cheaper. This will impact negatively on the relationship between the company and the customer. The customer will most likely not accept products or services from that same company in the future due to late deliveries.

Today everyone is looking for convenience and will buy products and services from a company that will be able to deliver required products within the shortest time possible. The biggest change that has occurred in logistic strategy planning is the use of technology to learn about customer needs and offer deliveries fast. The internet has become the most convenient way to buy products and services. Most companies have developed websites where with one touch of a button, the customers are able to view all the products available and the easiest ways to get the products to them in the shortest time possible.

Finally, logistics and supply chain management is very vital for the success of a company. If the logistics are well structured to meet the needs of customers and offer the products in the shortest time possible, then this will give the company a competitive edge in the industry. However, if a company has inappropriate logistics, they will be unable to retain customers and venture into new markets. Their business will be overshadowed by other competitors because customers tend to prefer products from a company that meets their needs, delivers on time or makes the products easily accessible.

Logistics And Scm Pacific Warehouse

Logistics And SCM: Pacific Warehouse

Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc376340941 h 1Pacific Brands and the Warehouse PAGEREF _Toc376340942 h 1Functions of the Pacific Warehouse PAGEREF _Toc376340943 h 1Advantages of the Warehouse PAGEREF _Toc376340944 h 2Disadvantages of the Warehouse PAGEREF _Toc376340945 h 2Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc376340946 h 2

IntroductionWarehousing involves the storage of goods and products in large scale. This is done in an orderly and systematic and making this goods available whenever needed. This means that a warehouse holds the goods from the time of the purchase of the product to the time the products are being sold. It creates a time utility from the time of production to the time of consumption. Warehousing is a critical aspect of the supply chain. Warehousing can be a costly in terms of human resources and the equipment and the facilities. With the recent developments in logistics in terms of inventory, cost minimization and customer service levels. Warehousing helps in improving customer service level. Warehouses are usually located strategically and it is easily available (Mohan, 2013). Warehouses are usually constructed in such a way that it can handle goods even at peak products.

Pacific Brands and the WarehousePacific brands are one of the Australia’s leading clothing, home wares and footwear’s distributors. Pacific brands include brands such as Clarks, tontine, Sheridan, Berlei, hush puppies, hard yakka and Holeproof. In December 2011 pacific brands worked with Dematic to make a 42,000 square meters national. Due to the challenges identified in the supply chain and customer services, improvements could be achieved by consolidation of these services (Dematic Pty Ltd, 2012). Hence, the construction of the warehouse was considered as a vital aspect in achieving this objective.

Functions of the Pacific WarehouseReceiving- the pacific warehouse is tasked with the responsibility of physically packaging and un-packaging raw materials and finished products to the warehouse. It also serves as a center through which quality checks are carried out and a temporary storage facility for products that have been quarantine and are awaiting quality control clearance.

Order selection – the warehouse also serves as a point through which orders from respective customers orders are identified and picked in the required quantities and at the premeditated time frame. This involves break bulk operations, as and when the goods are received from respective suppliers, (Mohan, 2013). This is essential in ensuring the levels of customer services are optimized effectively. The warehouse also acts as a sortation center where incoming goods are sorted into specific orders from the customers upon their arrival into the warehouse.

Replenishing – the pacific brands warehouse also acts as a vital source of information regarding the inventory available within the company. This helps the company to replenish stock and maintain stock availability for order selection and picking.

Advantages of the WarehouseWith the promotional and seasonal variations in the market, pacific brands could achieve flexibility and scalability through transferring the volume of work to the warehouse. This warehouse helps in monitoring systems in the handling of storage for the products, this helps in optimizing the performance of the management of pacific brands. The warehouse has helped pacific brands in increasing efficiency through the design of the warehouse and the layout structure (Mohan, 2013). Pacific brands have ensured that it has enhanced efficiency in the human resources in the warehouse operations and this has further helped in enhancing the end user’s overall performance.

Disadvantages of the WarehouseThe main issues with the institution of the warehouse into the operations of pacific brands are that it has increased the complexity of the organization. It has also increase financial issues because of its design and structural layout. The warehouse has also complicated matters touching on tax and the rate of return for the investment.

ConclusionThe warehouse constructed by pacific brands in collaboration with Demantic has helped increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the performance of the company through the synchronization and coordination of the supply chain and customer services. This report has looked into how this has been achieved and the advantages and disadvantages of this move by the management of pacific brands.

References

Dematic Pty Ltd, (2012). Flexibility makes new DC a comfy fit for Pacific Brands. Dematic Pty Ltd

Mohan, V.E. (2013).Warehousing & inventory management. CII Institute of Logistics, Chennai, India.

Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin Corporation is a defense contractor, originally formed by Lockheed Corporation in the United States of America to undertake projects for the United States Department of Defense. The company is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland and its largest industrial plant occupies almost 10 million square feet (930 000 m2) on the site of the former Montgomery Ward Warehouse Complex in northwest Chicago (Lockheed Martin Corporation n.d). The field offices are mostly located worldwide with a focus on military aerospace, information systems and defensive technology. LinkedIn is their social media platform.Lockheed Martin has helped shape the 21st century with its developments in the areas of aeronautics (aviation), space exploration, hypersonics propulsion systems and nuclear engineering.

Lockheed Martin also offers a variety of products ranging from missile technologies to satellites. The company was founded on October 14th 1943 by Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson under the name “The Lockheed Aircraft Company”. Since then, it has taken pride in advancing US defense systems by developing innovative technologies with major global implications in aeronautics, navigation & guidance as well as other surveillance technologies such as radar.

Lockheed Martin has a unique relationship with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The two organizations partner in many areas, including robotics and space exploration, with JPL providing critical technologies for new projects that are later produced for government agencies as well as some commercial entities. Their mutual cooperation recently resulted in the production of high-quality 3D printed parts for Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Test High Energy Asset (ATHENA) project, a satellite set to launch into orbit this year (Petrescu et al., 2017).

References

Lockheed Martin Corporation. (2022). Retrieved 4 May 2022, from https://www.lockheedmartin.com/

Petrescu, R. V., Aversa, R., Akash, B., Bucinell, R., Corchado, J., Apicella, A., & Petrescu, F. I. (2017). Lockheed martin-a short review. Journal of Aircraft and Spacecraft Technology, 1(1).

Locke 46 & 47 Analysis

Locke 46 & 47 Analysis

Thesis:

The author argues that man attached great value to goods due to their necessity for subsistence hence the emergence of barter trade system. The world later adopted the money system which is still in use today.

Reasons:

People understood that if perishables were not consumed, they would perish or decay

Non-perishables like silver, diamond and gold are more valued, yet they are not a necessity in terms of supporting a human life

Everyone had a right to possess as many goods as possible depending on how hard he or she was willing to work for them

Bushels of apples or acorns were equivalent to a significant value as long as they were consumed before going bad.

It was, therefore, not ethical to for one to take more than his or her share. This was equivalent to robbing others in the community. The same applies in the event that the individual hoarded more goods than what was sufficient for him or her

It would have been better if the individual shared the goods with somebody else instead of decaying

These events led to barter trade in the sense that it was better to exchange commodities instead of letting them go bad.

Perishable goods were exchanged for non-perishable ones ensuring that necessity goods benefited an individual who needed them most.

Analysis:

Locke describes how systems of trade emerged on the basis of not wasting commodities thus attaching some significant value to them. It made a lot of sense to exchange goods for other goods instead of letting them spoil. The author’s argument is correct in the sense that goods were exchanged to enhance survival. People sort to acquire what they needed by giving up what they did not need or what they had in excess. The reasons to support the thesis are right since they clearly explain the necessity of subsistence in the life of a human being. Locke has to believe in the theory of survival for the fittest especially when he mentioned that man was allowed to own as much as he could work for. Locke also has to believe in change which is brought about through evolution. This is evident by how barter trade was replaced by the money system. Finally, he has to believe in the ultimate value of goods provided by nature thus the need for proper use or utilization.

Reference

Locke, J. (1976). The Correspondence of John Locke. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Print.

Local Hospitals Bioethics Committee

Local Hospital’s Bioethics Committee

Student’s Name

Institution

Local Hospital’s Bioethics Committee

The bioethics committee of the hospital is charged with the duty of supporting patients’ rights and helps them, their families and the entire health care team makes informed and sound decisions concerning health care in general. The entire members of the committee are well-trained in patient-care and medical issues and can give the management and the health-care team relevant professional advices from various points of view that can enable them articulate and arrive at the appropriate health decisions. However, the committee is not charged with the role of making decisions, but rather being a vital resource for the establishment and the clients in general.

The bioethics committee consists of doctors, social workers, nurses, patient representatives, community-and hospital-based physicians, residents and neighboring community, parents, biomedical ethicists, hospital administration, and clergy. The key roles of the committee include review and recommend guidelines of the hospital for issues regarding ethics that may arise and are related to Children care. Secondly, the committee is charged the responsibility of familiarizing the hospital staff and the entire community with issues related to ethics that are faced by families, parents and healthcare providers who are concerned with ongoing care for children who are desperately ill. Lastly, the committees have special sessions where they meet to issue necessary guidelines and serve in the capacity of sounding board for families, parents, and healthcare professionals to converse on specific ethical concerns.

When a child is admitted in the hospital, timely decisions must be in order to give appropriate medical attention. The decisions are not dependent on an individual’s discretion. Rather, the decision is arrived at by a group of people, such as the patient, her or his family, healthcare providers and physicians. Since different individuals hold different values, viewpoints, and religious beliefs that may be conflicting, arriving at a common decision regarding the best course of action for the child may be quite daunting. To ensure the committee functions as a team, a number of guidelines have been established that the members are supposed to follow strictly. These guidelines include:

The number of members in the committee must be consistent with the requirements of the hospital and not so large to an extent that it gets unwieldy. Members of the committee should be carefully selected based on their concern for the wellbeing of the infirm and the sick, their reputation among their peers and the community in general for mature judgment and integrity, and their overall interest in matters pertaining to ethics. Previous experience working as a member the establishment concerned or of a medical society committee that deals with quality assurance or ethical conduct should be taken into serious cognizance when selecting members of the committee. In addition, the members who are tasked with the duty of serving in the committee should not have other duties that not line with their responsibility as members of the medical committee.

The responsibilities of the ethical committee should be restricted to ethical matters. In the US, it is recommended that the committee adheres to the Code of Medical Ethics as a guide in making informed and professional decisions. The issues that the committee should consider deliberating on must consist of majorly ethical subjects that a bigger percentage of its members may find reasonable to discuss, or that are recommended by the hospital’s administration. The committee can also take up an issue if it is convinced beyond reasonable doubt that it meets the requirements of being discussed after an appropriate request is made by families, parents, or health care providers.

The deliberations and consequent communication of recommendations together with every step followed by the committee must agree with the ethical and institutional policies set to preserve confidentiality of information pertaining patients.

All members of the committee must be prepared to meet even on a short notice and submit their recommendations in a prompt and timely fashion in harmony with the requirements of the issues involved and situation at hand.

Since the institution is affiliated to a religious denomination, all recommendations that are made by the bioethical committee must conform to the published religious principles and tenets. When a religious belief is being taken into account in any recommendation made by the committee, the fact must be well publicized to patients, physicians, and all the other stakeholders who are concerned with the recommendations of the committee.

Whenever a patient and family seek expert recommendations from the committee, it is worth noting that the committee does neither make the ultimate decisions for them nor tell the medical practitioners how to proceed. It only serves to offer support and guidance. Apart for discussing ethical matters, the committee has also other crucial roles such as staying up-to-date on any advances in medical technology, changes in the law and relevant developments in medical bioethics. The entire team assists the rest in understanding the basic information concerning making decision in healthcare through playing a pivotal role in reviewing and then commenting on new proposed guidelines, identifying situations or issues that may require future address and ensuring existing policies are kept current.

According to the chairman, the bioethical committee has made a significant impact in solving ethical issues within the hospital. It has majorly played a vital role in educating and advising the hospital staff, patients and management. As a matter of fact, it has tremendously solved complicated and unusual ethical problems that involve the issues which affect treatment and care of outpatients and admitted patients in the hospital. The recommendations that are made by the committee impose no obligation that the institution, medical staff, the governing board, attending physicians or other concerned person must accept. Nonetheless, sound recommendations made by committed and dedicated committee are always taken into serious cognizance by the people charged with the duty of making decisions. The chairman however felt that there are also a number of issues that the committee should be charged with the obligation of handling. Such issues include: interpreting advance directives, end of life options as last option, patients who refuse beneficial treatment, negotiating alternative and complementary medicine, disclosure of mistakes, noncompliant and difficult patients, disability and ‘quality of life, and deciding whether or when to call state agencies. These are fundamental issues that affect the hospital on a daily basis and are never fully resolved since the bioethical committee does not have the mandate to deliberate on them.

On attending one of the meetings held by the committee, I confirmed the earlier words by the chairperson. Indeed, the committee is an integral component of the institution. The issues it deliberates on are very imperative for the hospital. Furthermore, the committee is made of professionals from different profession and they are well-informed on different issues and are able to arrive at the best decisions within a very short time. I further noted that there are different ways in which one can approach matters with the committee. An ethical issue can be best described sometimes when only an individual appears to speak with the committee. However, come cases may require a more informed people may come along with the concerned to appear before the committee. These can be family members, authorized representative, health care agent and a doctor. In some cases, one member of the committee can meet with a family or patient in order to discuss a concern.

References

March, C., Cano, V., Moranta, D., Llobet, E., Pérez-Gutiérrez, C., Tomás, J. M., … & Bengoechea, J. A. (2013). Role of bacterial surface structures on the interaction of Klebsiella pneumoniae with phagocytes. PloS one, 8(2), e56847.

Riesco, M. F., & Robles, V. (2013). Cryopreservation Causes Genetic and Epigenetic Changes in Zebrafish Genital Ridges. PloS one, 8(6), e67614.