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Date:
Record of Verification of Topic Title meeting
Use the table below to keep a record of your meeting with your project supervisor.
Please hand this to your project supervisor for written feedback.
Your first idea for topic/title
Blood transfusions- the surgical/ethical challenge
They can be fatal as well as life-saving and if there should be alternatives
Your first ideas for researching and developing your project
For my project I intend to go to lectures, use a range of websites, books, and documentaries,
I will also watch a DVD on the alternatives of Blood transfusions.
I am designing a survey to ask people in a hospice, where I volunteer, if they would accept a
blood transfusion and why and if they would prefer an alternative method.
I also need to read scientific magazines to expand my scientific and medical knowledge.
It is equally important l gain a religious point of view of blood transfusion so that I can explore
the ethical issues.
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What are blood transfusions
How they first came about
The historical controversy
Why patients are given blood transfusions
What happens after receiving them and if there are any side effects
Look for facts e.g. the number of successful blood transfusions and the probability of
a patient surviving by receiving one compared to not
What are the advantages of blood transfusions
How safe are they now compared to before i.e. any future problems due to blood
transfusions, such as being given infected blood with illnesses such as AIDS or
hepatitis.
How nurses, doctors and surgeons perceive them, do they prefer giving blood
transfusions or would they prefer an alternative method?
How patients perceive them- do they find them good or bad? Why?
How does the general public perceive them? Ethically right to allow patients who
refuse them to die?
How do Jehovah Witnesses perceive them?
What are the disadvantages of blood transfusions?
What are the ethical issues?
What are the surgical problems and complications, for example rejection of foreign
blood in patients body
Could there have been a better alternative to avoid this?
Should we have alternatives? Are there any? What are they?
Does religion have anything to do with the disadvantages and the reason why
Jehovah witnesses refuse blood transfusions
Ethical dilemma doctors face because of this tension between respecting patient
autonomy and desire to save the patient’s life.
Do all countries provide patients with the option of blood transfusions and/or respect
patient autonomy? Who makes the decisions the patients or their parents?
Who should make decisions about healthcare?
Any famous cases where patients have either survived or died due to having or
refusing a blood transfusion
What conclusions can I draw: ethically right to respect patient autonomy and why do
I think there should be alternatives to blood transfusions based on my scientific and
religious research
Skills which I need to work on
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Writing my timetable and diary so I can collect and write results for the information I
have gathered
Try not to make it biased by letting my religious beliefs influence the whole project
Balance my project with debates and arguments
Analyse data correctly and effectively
Limiting repetition
Your Project Supervisor’s feedback and advice