Liberty and the Elderly Patient Ronald is 71 years old. A widower, he lives alone in an apartment, but he regularly rece

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Liberty And The Elderly Patient Ronald Is 71 Years Old A Widower He Lives Alone In An Apartment But He Regularly Rece 1 (84.87 KiB) Viewed 52 times

Liberty and the Elderly Patient Ronald is 71 years old. A widower, he lives alone in an apartment, but he regularly receives some assistance from a cleaning woman and a friendly neighbor. Ronald is presently in Metropolitan hospital, because he had a fall and suffered a broken leg. Now that he has begun to heal, he is ready to be discharged. Ronald also suffers from arteriosclerosis, a condition that results in his experiencing periods of confusion during which he sometimes wanders purposelessly around his apartment building and sometimes wandering around the city. This type of behavior has run some risks for Ronald in the past, and his children do not want him to return to his apartment. The children believe that he needs the supervised care provided in a nursing home. Ronald, when not in a confused state, repeatedly expresses his awareness of the problems he faces stemming from his arteriosclerosis and the resultant risks that he runs. Nonetheless, he would rather run those risks than be confined to institutional care. The health care professionals and Ronald's children decide that he cannot be discharged from Metropolitan hospital until an appropriate nursing home is found. At that time, he will be sent to the nursing home. When Ronald insists to being discharged from the hospital, the nurses sedate him to a level sufficient to gain his compliance. 160 1 Based on the textbook, the act of sedating patients over 60 and forcing this to take medications is considered elder abuse. In some states forcibly administering medication is considered a crime. In your opinion, is Ronald being medically restrained for his own good (he may cause harm to himself) or should someone alert the authorities because Ronald's autonomy is being violated. 2. Further questioning and investigation into Ronald's broken leg reveal that his friendly neighbor has been quietly abusing Ronald for several years, because he has other injuries that have already healed. It is likely that if Ronald is sent home to his apartment that this abuse would continue, because Ronald will forget about the abuse and allow the neighbor to return.