Life and Death in Healthcare Ethics : A Short Introduction

ISBN-13: 9780415215732 / Angielski / Twarda / 2000 / 106 str.

Helen Watt;Helen Watt

Opis

In spite of rapid technological advances and widespread media coverage, the moral issues raised by our choices over life and death in health care remain obscure. This book aims to provide concise, provocative and accessible guide to these moral issues. The author assesses the choices taken by health care professionals, patients and clients which lead to the shortening of life. She does this by drawing on a number of highly topical and controversial real-life examples which include: euthanasia and letting die; the problem of patients in a persistent vegetative state; abortion and the destruction of human embryos; cloning; and the risks of live-saving treatment of pregnant women.

In a world of rapid technological advances, the moral issues raised by life and death choices in healthcare remain obscure. Life and Death in Healthcare Ethics provides a concise, thoughtful and extremely accessible guide to these moral issues.
Helen Watt examines, using real-life cases, the range of choices taken by healthcare professionals, patients and clients which lead to the shortening of life. The topics looked at include:
* euthanasia and withdrawal of treatment
* the persistent vegetative state
* abortion
* IVF and cloning
* life-saving treatment of pregnant women
Clearly written and insightful, Life and Death in Healthcare Ethics: A Short Introduction presupposes no prior knowledge of philosophy. It will be of interest to anyone confronting healthcare ethics for the first time, or seeking to develop his or her understanding of some core topics in the field.

Recenzje

'This small, slim book can only be commended ... For students who want - or need - a very basic text to introduce them to the subject, I could not recommend anything better.' - Verena Tschudin, Nursing Ethics

'I can recommend this book as a very useful, easily accessible resource book for health care workers.' - Mary Byrne, Bioethics Outlook, March 2001

'Short introductions to anything are very appealing to me as they usually provide principles upon which I can develop ideas and pursue other reading. In this respect Helen Watt does not disappoint. She has created an introduction to a number of life and death issues that all of us could face via the exploration of actual cases... Additional notes, at the end of the book, provide the reader with a wide range of potential reading material. Should you buy the book? Buy it or borrow it, it is a book worth reading because its content is very applicable to A&E work.' - Lynn C. Sbaih, Accident and Emergency Nursing, 2002

'Compact and at the same time profound...an interesting and original work.' - Medicine, Healthcare and Philosophy

Spis treści

Introduction 1 Homicide: moral approaches 2 The unconscious patient 3 The competent patient 4Abortion 5 Embryo destruction 6 Cooperation

O autorze

Helen Watt is Research Fellow at the Linacre Centre for Healthcare Ethics in London.