Sometimes nurses are forced to hurt the patient in providing medical care - thus the standards of care conflict with ethical principles and patient's bill of rights

The paper ” The Issue of Health Care in Hospitals Arent Hotels by Theresa Brown” is a worthy example of an article on nursing. The essay aims to address a two-fold objective to wit to select and summarize an editorial from a newspaper on a health care or nursing topic; and (2) to analyze how the editorial addressed the particular issue and how it affects nursing or health care. Analysis of Newspaper Article
Letter to the Editor: Hospitals Aren’t Hotels
To the Editor:
The author has read the editorial article of Theresa Brown entitled “ Hospitals Aren’t Hotels” in the opinion pages of the New York Times. Brown reflected on a scenario where a senior surgeon told a resident to never do a pleurodesis procedure without pain medicine as pleurodesis is one of the most painful procedures done by physicians. In the article, Brown (2012) explained that pleurodesis involves abrading the lining of the lungs to stop fluid from collecting there (p. A35). Significantly, Brown proved through personal experience that pleurodesis is still painful even with the administration of pain medication but strongly argues that it was necessary to injure the patient in the controlled, short-term way in order to ease the lungs to breathe and prevent long-term recurrence and further serious complications. In the field of medicine, a number of procedures are done in this way to make the patient feel better.
Brown expressed her worries about how the quality of the hospital’s care are influenced and measured by the patient’s satisfaction. In fact, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services developed the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey to link Medicare reimbursements and bonuses to the scores reflected on the survey and evaluate behaviors related to the achievement of high-quality care such as communication, patient education regarding medications, discharge, and clarity of instructions in the hospital settings – all of which evaluates hospital levels of patients’ satisfaction. The metrics of care developed is problematic as inflicting physical pain and emotional suffering are at times inseparable from the standard care. Brown (2012) identified recent researches, like those of Joshua Fenton and colleagues, which correlated higher satisfaction scores with greater use of hospital services and increased mortality (p. A35). Evaluating hospital care based on the ability to offer positive patient experiences must not be upheld at all times as hospitals are not hotels that only offer comfort but specialized facilities that are often inflicting pain to provide the care needed by the patient and to prevent longer suffering and serious complications.
The editorial addressed the issue through personal experiences, case studies, related research, and the effect of the current announcement in the reimbursement process. Brown proved through personal experience that at times, physicians and health care practitioners found conflicting roles between the principles of non-maleficence (to do no harm) and provision of appropriate and standard care. Through case studies of pleurodesis, the author of the editorial page argued that inflicting pain while doing the procedure is unavoidable. Brown also addressed the issue by citing related research about patient satisfaction and increased risks for hospital costs and haram. Lastly, the current provision of the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services was upheld to the readers, encouraging readers that patient satisfaction tools should be analyzed deeply prior to the reimbursement process.
The author agrees with the editorial article. There are times when nurses are put in a situation where inflicting pain or harm becomes part of the treatment and when standards of care conflicts with ethical principles and patient’s bill of rights. This is called an ethical dilemma. Cases like this affect nursing care, critical thinking, and the quality of care being provided. The high pressure set by the society regarding minimizing the pain and maximizing patient satisfaction direct conscious-driven nursing care aimed towards the delivery of care that satisfies patient needs and developed nurses who think deeply before making a sound judgment.