Ethical Decision-Making in Physical Therapy |
CASE 5You are a physical therapist assistant who recently graduated and went to work at a large acute care facility where you did an affiliation. You feel quite comfortable here, but you feel as though you must perform at a high level of independence so that you will not be thought of as a student any longer. Today you are asked to see a patient who was evaluated by a physical therapist yesterday. The patient is a 58-year-old woman who has a history of breast cancer. You are seeing her because she underwent a surgical repair of her hip that was fractured in a fall. The physical therapist began bed mobility training and transfers. You are to continue this and to begin standing in preparation for gait training. The note says that the patient was still quite groggy from the anesthesia yesterday and did not respond to questions. After you enter the patient's room and introduce yourself and explain what you want to do, the patient begins screaming for you to get out of her room. She says that she is dying of cancer anyway, so what's the use of doing physical therapy. You try to explain to her the importance of the treatment, but it is of no use, the patient continues to adamantly refuse to get out of bed. You know that it is best for her to begin early mobility to prevent complications, including death. What should you do?What is your obligation in this case?
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