Hospitals: Essential Social Institutions for Quality Healthcare - Essay Sample

Introduction

The area of interest that I have chosen to focus on is hospitals as social institutions. Hospitals play an integral role provided that healthcare is one of the essential aspects of life. Without quality healthcare, it becomes rather tough to carry out daily activities. Going through this is critical, for it enables one to comprehend the role they play and how they are affected by other factors in society.

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Area 1

One of the significant issues to review relating to hospitals is the fact that many cities lack the finance to build these institutions. The current environment is one that has faced many challenges concerning the economy, and this is more so after the 2008 depression. Funds are not readily available, and it becomes difficult to build hospitals in different parts. Many financial institutions cannot also offer loans to hospitals for they fear that these health facilities might lack the ability to repay. The consequent of this has hospitals in major parts lacking the required material.

For the hospitals in existence, some of them lack the funding required to upgrade their systems. With the changes in technology, it is essential to have constant upgrades to the system because it ensures that patients get quality and fast medical attention (Latifi 36). When focusing on hospitals as social institutions, one ought to understand that it does not only focus on the structure itself but also the people working in them. Doctors have too faced problems in the past owing to small remunerations from the government. The government through institutions such as the National Health Institute (Latifi 42) fails to offer the doctors and nurses the amount of money they require as payment for their services and this has discouraged many from engaging in courses related to medicine. The employment requirements for entry into the medical courses are very high and citing the financial problems that these health institutions face is one of the primary reasons why they opt to engage in other courses such as the law that pay vast amounts of money.

One should also review social inequalities relating to hospitals. To get medical attention and to off-set the bills that the health institutions have to pay the doctors, the hospitals ensure they charge high prices for medical services. Even though with the changing environment, there has been the introduction of policies that seek to have universal free health care, this has not yet actualized in many parts of the world owing to their ailing economies. The charges for these services are so high that only the privileged individuals in the environment receive them.

It is not fair to have some people receiving quality medical care while others suffer trying to get various health services. It is the responsibility of the specific countries to ensure they manage their budgets well and offer a priority to healthcare because with quality and affordable care; it is possible to have other sectors of the economy improving. When a person receives quality healthcare, it is possible for the individual to get back to their posts in the working environment, make money for the family and further manage to contribute to the growth of the economy.

Area 2

The other aspect of reviewing is relating to the element of factors such as race. Some practitioners in the modern health environment are ignorant of their duties as health practitioners, where they tend to treat people differently because of their race. Depending on the race of a person, a doctor or a nurse in a hospital might pay less attention to the patient. Most of these cases happen where a Caucasian doctor might condescend on a dark-skinned person. The doctor might be so judgmental that he or she might assume that these people are less critical.

In some cases, even though the dark-skinned person having severe injuries might get to a hospital early, the doctor might give priority to a Caucasian individual just because they are of the same race. Also, coloured doctors suffer the same fate where some Caucasians fail to recognize their professionalism, and this only shows the problems that they face (Wingfield 9)

Another issue in society is relating to immigrants. Immigrants have been victims in the community for centuries, and this is present even in the medical environment. Sit has been the perception of many doctors and other people in society that immigrants get to disrupt the social setting by taking up jobs that are meant for the natives. When these immigrants get ill and visit hospitals, they are not accorded the same respect that is granted to the natives, and this is a factor that affects them negatively. It is imperative for nurses, doctors and other medical practitioners to acknowledge that immigrants are also human and as of such should receive quality medical attention too.

Gender is an issue with regard to hospitals, and this is more so when recruiting doctors. There are people in the society of the mentality that the female gender does not have the professional qualification required to take up roles carried out by doctors. For the group of people with this school of thought, their idea is that women ought to work as nurses and leave the role of doctors to the male gender. However, it is critical to note that the modern health environment and current hospitals have managed to acquire some specialist doctors that are female and that carry out their responsibilities with the same amount of professionalism that the male gender provides and have been commended. If people changed their mindset and become open-minded, hospitals and the general health environment would change for the better. Despite politicians state that racism and gender equality are of the past, they are still witnessed presently (Wingfield 12).

The concept of family composition is another one to focus on the hospital setting. Some hospitals fail to offer qualified professionals a chance to work in their institutions when they review the family composition of the individual. A family might have a history of violence where some family members might have served time in federal prisons and consequently fear that employing a doctor with such family history might engage in a violent act. However, it is vital to ensure that there is impartiality in the selection process to give these doctors a chance for everybody is mentally structured differently.

Area 3

The third area to focus on is relating to the structure of the school system that cultivates future generations to engage in the current structure. The modern education system is quite versatile as compared to the traditional method, but the strictness involved with the admission of nurses and doctors to medical schools for them to perform their duties effectively is imperative to review. It stands, getting into medical school is hard, and this is because there are many expectations of the character of doctors.

Currently, many scandals exist in the hospital setting, and this is regarding aspects such as negligence. Some of the people admitted to medical school to eventually make doctors or nurses fail to carry out their activities effectively, and the consequent of this is some scandals involving misdiagnosis and even selling of private patient information to the highest bidders (Wheeler 73). It has thus become imperative to raise the standards when choosing the students to admit in the various training institutions on their path to make doctors and treat people in reputable hospitals.

After quality vetting of potential doctors and nurses through review of their background and past behaviour, the education system chooses the most suitable and consequently it is possible to have quality doctors that will make the future policy of healthcare better and more accommodative. The education system is also practical in the training of medical students, and this is owing to the increased number of years that they have put into ensuring the potential doctors and nurses they are training understand all concepts required of them and this is to avoid the various scandals mentioned above.

Moreover, the increased number of years in residency is imperative in the analysis of the most dedicated people. The field of medicine and the hospital setting, in general, requires commitment and if a person cannot commit to studying medicine for the number of years set and if the person lacks the patience then he or she is not suitable for the medical environment (Wheeler 91). The medical environment and more so the hospital setting requires patience because some patients might repeatedly visit the hospital with the same complications and if a doctor does not have the patience value he or she might address the patient in an unethical and unprofessional manner.

In preparation for the future, the education environment has introduced the subject of sciences from an early age. Initially, studies related to medicine were taught at an advanced level, such as high school. However, the recent years have seen the introduction of science subjects from as an early a level as middle school. Initial preparation of the potential students is essential for young children. The importance is that they grow up understanding concepts such as the functioning of the body from a young age and as they progress, they learn more complex ideas on the same and eventually after medical school and graduation, they perform well in their jobs.

Area 4

Discussing the fourth area related to social control and the aspects that make us act appropriately, one gets to note that one of these is the spiritual pull. The modern world has seen many people working in, and this is more so in the hospital setting. With religious knowledge, and with increased advocacy of the importance of following the bible, people get to change their behaviour correctly. People get to note the importance of acting accordingly, and with relation to the hospital setting, doctors appreciate life and consequently engage in their activities in a much more careful manner.

Advocacy for equal treatment that is done by the social group has seen people treating others that are different from them concerning race and nationality equally (Horwitz 71). People have come to realize that we are all humans and even though we might have our differences, we all require similar treatment for there are some sectors where an individual might help out when the other person cannot deal with the situation. With this mentality, people have gradually changed, and the number of cases related to scrutiny has reduced.

It is also critical to note that another mechanism that has proved useful in the maintenance of social control and to make us members of the modern functioning environment is the law. The law has been relevant to the management of society. With the law, doctors and other members of the community have become very attentive and disciplined, and this is because they know the repercussions are dire (Horwitz 113). Without following the law, the consequent of this is having a person facing charges and in severe circumstances can go to jail. For the doctors, they ensure they follow the law because failure to do this can have their licenses revoked and in some severe instances jailed. Having this understanding, the doctors ensure that they follow all instructions and are extra careful in all the exercises they engage in, in the hospital setting which is rather crucial in ensuring the safety of the patients. Patients ought to feel comfortable around their doctors, and this is enforced by the law, which makes them feel safe. Because of the above information presented relating to the medical environment, do you think that even with the presence of the law, cases of negligence and discrimination will entirely end at some point even with the presence of the law?

Works Cited

Horwitz, Allan. The Logic of...