Dicussion questions Modular 7 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Dicussion questions Modular 7 - Assignment Example Because of this, several measures have been set to balance these somewhat conflicting values. When the patient’s mental competence is in question, the patient’s rational ability (the ability to make sound decisions) will be examined. Secondly, the medical staff will have to ascertain the patient’s performance competence (whether or not the patient is able to make decisions and to perform skills in a manner that is commensurate with specific external standards). Physicians may also analyze the patient’s reflective competence, as a way of determining the patient’s ability to formulate and evaluate his or her own internal values and standards in relation to his actions and decisions. When the absence of mental competence is obvious, it becomes inevitable that the patient’s next of kin is involved. It is the next of kin that is to append his or her signature in order to authorize medical intervention. At times, the standpoint taken by the patient may be weighed against the gravity of his or her medical condition. For instance, physicians cannot just honor a tetraplegic patient’s whimsical request to be disconnected from the ventilator (McLean, 2009). Coma is a medical state characterized by unarousable unresponsiveness. In this state, the patient is not aware of both self and surroundings. Though a coma persists for at least an hour, comatose patients begin to come around after 2-4 weeks. A patient may progress from being comatose to being vegetative. On the other hand, when a patient opens his or her eyes without being aware of self and the environment, he or she is in a vegetative state. This means that the vegetative state acts as a transition to further recovery. When four weeks elapse without the patient having recovered, the patient is said to be in a persistent vegetative state. When six months elapse since the onset of the vegetative state, the patient is considered to be in a permanent vegetative state. When a patient is still in a