Who owns the child in hospital?

[Guest guest]

Hi,

don't wanna open a can of worms, but this article is some interesting food

for the mind.

Peace

Torsten, dad of Fiona 5wcf

e-mail: torstenkrafft@...

Journal of Advanced Nursing

Volume 41 Issue 3 Page 213 - February 2003

PHILOSOPHICAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES

Who owns the child in hospital? A preliminary discussion

Shields PhD FRCNA

Inger sson-Hallström DrMedSci

Gudrun Kristjánsdóttir DrPH RN

and Judith Hunter BSc MA RN MBE

Aim. To 'own' a person is considered an infringement of human rights, but

we suggest that concepts of ownership influence interactions between

parents and staff when a child is admitted to hospital. This paper aims

to stimulate debate and contains an explanation of the exploration of the

literature for research and discussion of ownership of the child.Method.

A wide variety of library indexes, databases and populist media were

examined although it was impossible to examine all literature which may

have contained references to this topic, and, apart from databases which

contained abstracts in English, we could not include literature written

in any language other than English, Swedish, and Icelandic.Findings. We

found no research that examines how concepts of ownership of a child

affects communication between health professionals and parents and,

ultimately, the delivery of health care. This paper begins discussion on

the issues.Discussion. Historical literature shows that ownership of

humans has been a part of many cultures, and parents were once considered

to own their children. Ownership of another has legal connotations, for

instance in guardianship struggles of children during marriage breakup

and in ethical debates over surrogacy and products of assisted

conception. Within health care, it becomes a contentious issue in

transplantation of body parts, in discourse on autonomy and informed

consent, and for religious groups who refuse blood transfusions. In

health care, models such as family centred care and partnership in care

depend on positive communication between parents and staff. If a hospital

staff member feels that he/she owns a child for whom he/she is caring,

then conflict between the staff member and the parents over who has the

'best interests of the child' at heart is possible.Conclusion. We

encourage debate about concepts of who owns the hospitalized child - the

parents or the staff? Should it be argued at all? Is the whole concept of

ownership of another, be it adult or child, the ethical antithesis to

modern beliefs about human rights? Comment on this issue is invited.