Book Report/Review

The book explains to the reader the different approaches that problems in medical care can be resolved through a behavioural change in humans. “Better” assesses how people perform in a difficult job that pushes people, and it provides first-hand experiences in different cases where the writer narrates about two issues where medical malpractice was an issue. The writer analyses how humans perform in the field of medicine according to ethics and morals. Moreover, the writer discusses how failure in the field of medicine is easy, and that healthcare workers need to have competence and confidence to deal with patients.
Gawande discusses how performance in the medical care industry is different from other professions. Where medical practice continuously educates physicians on moral issues as they take care of human lives. The job requires a team effort and is not dependent of individual impact since the doctor has to work with the nurse who monitors the patients, engineers who ensure that medical equipment work, and the IT department who configure networks. Medicine is a complex and broad industry that involves different professionals who need to work with diligence and ethic to deliver quality health care.
The author also acknowledges cases of some doctors in the medical industry who do not deliver their best outcomes when treating patients. In one of the cases, the author described how some doctors were able to treat stomach hernia through surgery throughout the year, and the patients fully recovered. “Contrary to these doctors, some doctors in the U.S. performed the same surgery, but the number of return cases of hernia was high.” (Gawande, 2008) According to the surgeon author, it is not easy for physicians to determine the right actions when there is a lack of instructions when attending to patients. There are many ways of addressing ethical decision in healthcare. Professional expertise in healthcare relies on different spheres when handling ethical dilemmas and issues since the outcomes of medicine depend on several factors apart from the surgeon’s proficiency.
Facing Ethical Dilemmas
Gawande uses the health care professionals to demonstrate to readers how success is guaranteed for anyone facing insurmountable odds through the experiences he has shared in the book. In day to day life, not everything goes as planned, even when all the requirements and processes were followed. From the book, Gawande dispels fears that professionals have towards failure, and he insists that through failure, one is equipped with the knowledge necessary to foster development and growth. Moreover, human beings were structured to have flaws since they are imperfect, including health care professionals. Nonetheless, they can achieve desired outcomes despite societal and personal problems faced. “When analysing the key concepts necessary for success in medical practice, Gawande cites three crucial requirements.” (Gawande, 2008). They are based on ethical decision making, and they include doing right, diligence and ingenuity.
Case Study of Ethical Decision Making
The medical profession differ from several occupations in the world due to the need for diligence and moral obligations when attending to patients. Ethical responsibility is introduced by the author addressing issues such as society’s perception of health care workers. “The book introduced us to a colleague to the author, a physician whose child suffered injuries due to medical errors, and a medical malpractice lawyer.” (Gawande, 2008) From these cases, the reader gains knowledge about issues surrounding rectifying harm caused by the health care workers. “Better” uses an intelligent approach that allows different parties to have enlightened viewpoints on this troublesome issue. The author illustrates and declares that trying to solve such cases with litigation was an inadequate solution, since it only serves to bring more harm than offering help to victims of medical error. He adds, that up to date, the search for meaningful and ethically sound ways continues, although there are potential solutions that are worth considering.
According to Gawande’s book, decision making relies on ethical considerations applicable through the six-step framework. I support Gawande’s idea that litigation as a solution to medical efficacy in accountability is not the ethical decisions made for medically caused injury cases. Each of the following steps will assist provide a framework used in ethical decision making.
The Six-Step Framework in Medical Ethical Decision Making:
Step 1. Gather adequate information