Health care professionals ethical criteria on 'quality-of-life' versus 'sanctity-of-life' judgments in the intensive care setting

Abstract

One can say that everyone is in search for better quality in anything we try to accomplish. As a nurse and as a healthcare professional I always cherish when the patients' Quality-of-Life improves. The main issue of healthcare is to improve the physical or mental state of the sick individual holistically. The daily improvements that our patients make are the accomplishments of our hard working days. Quality of life is one of the most debated subjects in the critical care setting in particular the Intensive Care Unit. Healthcare professionals are often perplexed with decisions that might determine clinical judgments. The advancements in medicine have created debates that we are trying to prolong life unnecessarily and increase burden. The researcher tried to investigate the relation of 'Quality-of Life versus 'Sanctity-of-Life' judgments amongst healthcare professionals in the Intensive Care Unit. A focus group research was done amongst 20 healthcare professionals, mainly, doctors, nurses and physiotherapists. Ethical issues were debated and discussed. Data analyses identifies that Quality of life is considered as paramount in the ICU, but the importance towards the value of life should never be undermined. Results show that the enshrined Roman Catholic values of our society still persist in assisting our moral obligations at work. The researcher recommends further ethical lectures and bioethical seminars amongst healthcare professionals, because all members emphasised the need to establish whether their moral reasoning was correctly applied in the critical care setting.