Potential Problems When Healthcare Professionals Accept Gifts from Pati

The role of doctors, nurses and physicians in general is to help out their patients and micturate them healthy. The patients pay for their treatment, but some may feel that their payment is not enough or may want to give extra. This exchange of money for divine service is extremely personal since this service is the provider of their continued health, or at least genuine attempts to do so. Since it is so personal, patients may feel that they are remedy in debt to their health care providers even if proper payment was done. These patients may give their healthcare professional a bounty to show their thanks. Should the healthcare professional borrow or reject these gifts? Currently, it seems that the decision is up to the healthcare professionals discretion.To begin with, some sort of loose definition must be square off for the types of gifts that are being discussed. Gifts that would be deemed as just a thanks between a healthcare professional and a patient are also the most co mmon types of gifts (Spence). These are chocolate and liquors, which have low monetary value and cannot be exchanged easily for their face value meaning, once the healthcare professional receives these gifts they are most likely stuck with them. This is important, because gifts other than money usually have some thought process behind them and requires more effort to go out and accquire them. This would mean that the patient is thinking about the doctor and that their thanks are most likely genuine. There can still be transcendental motives behind these genuine gifts, but both sides of the argument have to be laid down before it can be further discussed.If a gift were to be accepted it may taint the rest of the healthcare procedure. As Weijer writes The physician-patient rel... ...el Bible. Web. 14 Apr. 2010..Lavine, Jay. The Thirteen Principles of Jewish medical exam Ethics. Jewish Medicine. 15 Apr. 2008. Web. 28Apr. 2010. .Meir, Asher. self-exaltation or False Pride. Aish. 23 Feb. 2008. Web. 28 Apr. 2010..Proverbs. King James Bible. Online Parallel Bible. Web. 14 Apr. 2010..Spence, Sean A. Patients Bearing Gifts Are There Strings Attached? British Medical Journal 331.7531(2005) 1527-529. BMJ. 24 Dec. 2005. Web. 28 Apr. 2010..Weijer, Charles. Should Physicians Accept Gifts from Their Patients? Yes Western Journal of Medicine175.2 (2001) 77. PubMed. Web. 14 Apr. 2010..