VIP treatment. Ethical dilemma for paper?

BlueDevil,DNP, DNP, RN · Oct 7, 2012

I guess it is as good a topic as any. I've seen it a lot. Sometimes I didn't like it. :shrug: It isn't going away. Friday I was the recipient of it, and I have to say, I didn't mind it so much then, lol. I needed a MRCP and I had a limted window of time (my lunch break to be exact). I'm a provider with the company, so they bumped someone and squeezed me in. "Fair?" No. Sometimes who you know offers a few perks. The next patient got their study, they just waited an extra 45 minutes. It wasn't emergent, no one died. They watched Oprah reruns in the lobby or played on their cell phone or whatever for a few more minutes. They didn't know why they were waiting, I'm sure they would have been TO'd. I'm sure I'd have been TO'd if I knew the reason I waited so long at the auto dealer to get my oil changed this morning was if (hypothetically) the owner's kid skipped me in line, lol. But that stuff happens sometimes. It's the way of the world. Health care in this country is about as far from egalitarian as it can get. That seems to be the way many/most (?) Americans want it. I don't know why anyone cries foul when it gets pointed out quite obviously that that is they way it is.

canned_bread · Oct 7, 2012

If your paper requires resources, I don't think your topic is really good. When I had an "open-topic" paper like yours, I would think of what would have the most resources, articles, studies etc on it.

Jory, MSN, APRN, CNM · Oct 7, 2012

I have to do a paper on an ethical dilemma for my BSN program. It seems lots of students are doing end of life care and patient autonomy. I want to do something different and maybe a little newer. We have real issues at work with the treatment of VIP's. We move patients around and they get special treatment which bothers the nurses because we feel everyone is a VIP to someone. Do you think this would be a good ethical dilemma to do a paper on? Also, does anyone have any experience dealing with this type of situation?
Thanks.
MEtfan

I don't agree with VIP systems at hospitals, with one exception: If the President of the USA is injured or sick.

Everyone else, regardless of what job they hold or how much money they have, can wait. I don't care if they are the King of another nation.

It's a horrible practice.

dudette10, MSN, RN · Oct 7, 2012

I think it would be very interesting. You'll probably have to be creative with your research though. "VIP treatment" probably won't have a ton of studies, so you'll have to get creative with your search terms. I'd advise getting with a librarian at your school. People forget what a tremendous resource librarians are for finding information.

Agreed. As another poster said, you'll have to take broad ethical concepts and apply them to the scenario you describe. Ironically, someone who posted that it isn't a viable topic with few lit resources provided you some of the best ethical concepts! For example, limited resources with unlimited need. Does this mean a patient who has more resources is entitled to disrupt the rest of other patients (moving them around to give a quiet environment to the richer patient)? Well, right there is an ethical dilemma!

Even if the medical care provided is equivalent, are patients with more resources entitled to better patient satisfaction elements, such as shorter wait times, one-on-one nursing care when acuity doesn't deem it necessary, etc.

You don't even have to make the comparison between a millionaire/potential donor and the very poor. You could make the comparison between an insured patient and an uninsured one. Both could be middle class, but one has a job and the other is unemployed and COBRA ran out.

dudette10, MSN, RN · Oct 7, 2012

You could build an ethical arguement around the idea that special treatment of a VIP may be justified if it results in a monetary donation that improves care for others. For example, take good care of Mr. Special Pants and he'll fund the building of a children's cancer center. Depending on how your assignment is structured, you may not need literature to back you. When I took ethics, we only had to apply the principles to our scenarios.

Excellent point. When I was in school, we had to provide reasons for the thesis statement and reasons against it. While many here have provided reasons against it, you just provided one for it.