JANNAH PATRICIA R.

NAVA

NURS 2-1

Reaction paper

Bioethics

September 28, 2021

A. VERACITY

Leukemia, caused by abnormal changes in bone marrow blood cells, which is associated with a
greater rate of abnormal blood cells and diminished production of normal blood cells, is the most
common cancer that causes deaths in children due to its high mortality rate (Namayandeh et. al., 2020).
And it’s very hard not only for the children affected but also for their respective families, who provide all
the support and give their all hoping that their child would be one of the lucky ones and that they would
get better. Cancer affects everyone involved. And these families often experience problems in patients’
symptom management, communication, and relationships, and even in taking care of their own needs
for care which is also shown in the movie. Through all these problems it gets harder and harder for
everyone involved to communicate truthfully with each other and act with veracity, as well as a variety
of reasons. As shown in the scene on 1:26:50- 1:27:20 Kate and Anna are discussing the best way to get
their point across to their mom by telling her the truth on what Kate really wants for her life. Their
desperate act of honesty to a person who refuses to listen. Family members, at this case their mom,
often find it hard and ill at ease to talk about the end of life because a lot of times the truth is very hard
to accept due to social stigma and even because of the emotional burden on everyone involved (Keeley,
2017).

Sometimes the truth, even when it’s in front of you can be very hard to see or accept. That’s
why it’s important for medical providers to always act with veracity, to be truthful and to give every
information that they can to these affected families so that they are able to make an informed to
decision to every circumstances. This is what Dr. Chance performed at time stamp 14:30-15:35 and
every other interaction that he had with the parents. From the start, he spoke with honesty and told the
parents the risks associated with the options that he presented as well as the situation of Kate.
Withstanding, according to Friöriksdóttir et al., the top three most essential concerns for family
members are assurances that the patient is receiving the best possible treatment, that the professionals
care about the patient, and that their concerns are answered honestly (Wozniak & Izycki, 2014). And
that is why he was able to build a relationship based on mutual trust. Because as a doctor, he
understood their plights and their situation, and he did all that he can to help Kate and her family
throughout the 14 years of her treatment.
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Namayandeh, S. M., Khazaei, Z., Najafi, M. L., & Moslem, A. (2020, May 1). GLOBAL Leukemia in Children
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Hajradinovic, Y., Tishelman, H., Lindqvist, O., & Goliath, I. (2018). Family members´ experiences of the
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Woźniak, K., & Iżycki, D. (2014, September 1). Cancer: a family at risk. PubMed Central (PMC).
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