Bureaucracy and American Character, the Spirit of Public Service And the Vision of the Common Good
Bureaucracy is a set of laid-out laws and principles that have been set to govern a group of people, usually members of public, public servants and all involved in any activities of impact to the general public. The healthcare sector is perceived as a very important part of the society as all its functionalities are aimed at the betterment and welfare of the whole society. Many rules and regulations have hence been laid down to govern its operations, as well as ensure quality services are offered to the public at the highest level of professionalism and observance of morality and dignity.
Therefore, there are limiting factors that do not allow those in healthcare professionalism to operate in just any way they wish. Instead, they have to follow bureaucracy and ensure the offer only the best services and offer an equal chance of being served to all who need the services as dictated by the government and healthcare departments as well as the international authorities. There are different aspects of characters and behaviors that collectively form what is referred to as the American character.
Everyone is supposed to possess some basic principles and character in all they do. They are supposed to portray humanity, respect to life, respect other people’s rights and act in a manner that encourages and boosts unity, peace, good living conditions and all the values of the government. Every American citizen in the medical field is more strictly expected to portray this American character in their operations at all times. A lot of emphasis is hence put on such practitioners and it’s a common expectation for them to possess the character.
They are hence expected to deal with everyone in need of their services leniently and be non-partisan by avoiding favoritism, nepotism and avoid traditions that undermine a given section of the public. They are expected to offer their services to everyone at equal chances except in special conditions like emergencies portray a lot of professionalism and follow the set out rules for their profession irrespective of the pressure from other parties, especially from clients.
Every person in the medical field is expected to demonstrate the spirit of public service irrespective of their level of practice or their immediate employer, whether a government public servant or a private practitioner in the medical field. Unlike in many other fields, in this field a person deals directly with human beings and factors that eradicate human suffering as well as preserving life.
Any activity carried out in this field determine in a great deal how much suffering is reduced from a client and in very many cases, whether a client’s life is extended or lost. There is therefore a need for everyone in this field to ensure they practice with a broader objective of service to the public, and avoid a focus profit-making and any other returns as a basis for their practice. Anyone with the spirit of public service will be willing to help irrespective of the availability of finances or rewards, but as per the need at hand.
One realizes that there is a greater reward in terms of satisfaction as well as more benefits when the focus is on public service instead of self-gain. The vision of common good is another important aspect expected of anyone in any profession in the country, especially in the medical field. In a nutshell, the medical field seeks to ensure good health, reduce pain and suffering and generally ensure the well being of its clients, who are the general public. Therefore, there is a need to reach out to the general public and ensure its overall welfare.
There is hence a need for everyone in the medical practice, at whichever level, to have a vision of the common good in which one will ensure that they do not target individuals but the whole society in ensuring better healthcare and equitable access to healthcare facilities. In this way, there are more benefits for both the practitioners and the society, and healthcare improves and develops rapidly in the country. The Dilemma There was a dilemma that was noted in one of my placements with one of the private hospitals for my profession practice.
I was working under the senior doctor in the hospital as one of his assisting nurses. After a few weeks of working with him, he grew very fond of me and shared with me most of the challenges he faced as a private medical practitioner. Most people with questionable needs seeking medical attention and avoiding the attention of the government and anyone required to know the needs usually turned to the private hospitals and offered better payments for their services.
Since most of the private hospitals were set up with an aim of making profits, most fell to the trap of allowing activities that were considered wrong and even against the law, provided they ensured secrecy of the practices and got better financial gains from such activities. On one of the days in my placement in the private hospital, the senior doctor summoned me to his office where I found a young lady seated there. The lady has come to seek the services of the doctor but the doctor thought the situation of her problem too sensitive and requested for my advice.
The lady was from a well-known influential family and had been involved in a secret affair with one of the public figures in the state. After a long time of the affair, the wife of the man started suspecting what was going on and tried following on the lady as well as threatening the man with suing for a divorce if she ever got any substantial information. Unfortunately, one day the lady realized she had gotten pregnant and was carrying the man’s child. They hadn’t planned for anything more that just an affair.
Once she broke the news to the man, he got so scared and thought this would blow everything up and expose him to his wife, giving her a reason for a divorce suit that would make him lose a lot of his wealth. Hence, the man requested the lady to seek for a way to carry out an abortion and do away with the pregnancy and avoid any complications that the pregnancy would lead to. He offered to spend any amount of money for the activity. On the other hand, the lady was scared that the pregnancy would make her lose her profession as she was a well-known singer and was also in the modeling industry.
Her clients would lose respect for her if they realized she got pregnant, especially out of wedlock and with a married man. She hence had welcomed the idea of an abortion and hence the reason she was in the hospital. The doctor had explained to me that he had carried out a few abortions, but a allowed by the law. The law gave a provision for abortions to be carried out by a professional medical doctor if the mother’s life was in danger. However, any other form of abortion was regarded as illegal.
Therefore, the reasons the lady presented for the abortion were not genuine and would only lead to an illegal activity. Though the doctor would receive a high pay for the activity, it was surely against the law, against humanity and also against the Christian faith, which we both professed. On the other side, we realized that just rejecting the offer wouldn’t solve the problem as the client would just seek for the services elsewhere and still carry on with the abortion. Application of the Expected Reaction I had to have a talk with the doctor, as we sought a way forward for over coming the dilemma.
Though the client knew very well what she was doing was wrong, she insisted on carrying on with an abortion just to avoid any negative consequences she would face. She offered good terms of payments and this would have tempted the doctor into the activity. However, there were some values that barred the doctor from accepting the offer. According to bureaucracy, there was a need to follow the laws set out for the conduct of medical practitioners. A doctor or nurse was not allowed to succumb to pressure from a client and act against the laws and expectations of his profession.
The law also forbids doctors from accepting the offer from the client as committing an abortion in the given situations wasn’t legal. There was hence a need to reject the offer by the client and avoid carrying out an illegal activity. Although most Americans like referring to abortion as legal, one of the major American statutes is respect and protection of life. Since scientists and medical researchers have proven with no doubt that life starts at conception, there is a need to avoid carrying out abortion unless it is confirmed that the mother’s life is at risk.
Therefore, there was a need to portray the American character of humanity, respect to life and be reasonable in dealing with the dilemma. The refore, there was no other option apart from rejecting the client’s offer. In the spirit of public service, the doctor realized he had previously rejected a few other offers for carrying out abortions with no good reasons. He hence realized he couldn’t treat this case as a special one just because those involved were wealthy and influential. He opted to treat all equally and hence rejected the offer.
With a vision of common good, the doctor realized that he had a social responsibility of preserving life instead of terminating it. He hence had to take the option that would have more benefits not just to the client and the man in question, but to the society as a whole. Preservation of life was hence a better option in this aspect and hence the doctor could not accept the offer. Resolution of the Problem We had to seek for a better way of addressing the dilemma and resolving it. It was clear the doctor wasn’t supposed to accept the offer.
On the other hand, just rejecting the offer would resolve the dilemma since the client would seek the services of another doctor. There was hence a need to talk to the client and let her have our perspective in looking at the situation. After talking to the clients on the implication of an abortion in terms of her own health, humanity and ethics as well as moral values, she was willing to stop an abortion, but on condition that we offered a way out of the problems she was afraid of. We therefore looked at all the available options and finally landed on one of allowing the client to give birth and then give the child up for adoption.
We were able to contact an organization from another state that would give the chance to keep her pregnancy secret as she required it to be and then take the child for adoption. The client hence consulted the man and got enough funds from him and then moved to the other state where she stayed till she got the baby and after recovering, she came back and continued with her profession. The client was later very grateful as she realized she had done a noble thing rather than committing an abortion and terminating life. We were also happy to realized we had followed the values of our profession in resolving the dilemma.
