The elderly are some of society’s most vulnerable citizens. They may suffer from a variety of illnesses besides normal aging. Thus, it is incumbent upon health care workers to provide their elderly patients with the utmost care. Taking care of the elderly comprises ethical, legal, and financial issues.
Ethically, all workers in a health care setting have a responsibility to provide their elderly patients with excellent care, and must strive to assist, to the best of their abilities, their patients with their health needs on a daily basis. Thus, in order to fulfill the ethical responsibilities of a health care worker, one must exercise a moral philosophy, and put that moral philosophy into daily practice.
Legally, all workers, including janitors, cooks, etc., have the legal responsibility as a mandated reporter. The form that is used to report neglect and/or abuse is the SOC-341. When writing a report, the worker who observed any signs and/or incidents of abuse must list the name of whom they reported the observed abuse to, the name of the patient, and other pertinent information. There are two legal protections that a reporting employee has: confidentiality and the freedom from legal action by their employer. Thus, it is the legal duty of a mandated reporter to report any form of abuse and/or neglect of elderly patients, including abuse between patients (California Dept. of Justice).
In addition, the financial issues of elderly patients must be handled properly. In this regard, common sense should guide decision-making on the part of those who are unable to manage their own financial affairs. Thus, it is important that all money that an elderly patient receives is accounted for. Often, an elderly patient’s financial affairs will be handled by their legal guardian (who may be a relative), or a power-of-attorney – a person who has the legal authority to handle a person’s financial affairs.
Work Cited
California Department of Justice. Your Legal Duty – Reporting Elder and Dependent Adult Abuse – Parts 1-4. YouTube. Online video clip. YouTube, 17 Feb. 2011. Web. 27 Jul. 2016.
