Professional Ethics Paper Ethics in the medical field are very important and should be taken seriously. As a medical professional you will tested daily on making the best choices, using good judgment and being morally responsible for your actions. There are nine principles in the Code of Medical Ethics that in general make up the primary code. As a medical professional you must always consider what is in the best interest of the patient. Code of medical ethics of the American Medical Association, (2012). When determining the proper “Patient-Physician Relationship, the relationship between the patient and physician is based on trust and gives rise to the physicians’ ethical obligations to place a patients’ welfare above their own self-interest” Code of medical ethics of the American Medical Association, (2012). In the example provided in regards to the blood specimen mislabeled case study, Mary, who is a medical assistant has made an error and when realizing her mistake has made a bad judgment call. Instead of taking responsibility for her actions and to avoid any repercussions, Mary decided not to correct the mislabeled blood samples in hopes the results for both patients will come back negative and the mistake will never be found. Mary does not clearly understand how the results of her actions could harm the patients instead of only seeing what possible problems it could cause for herself. I can see how this choice may seem harmless to a person and from an egoist perspective be viewed as doing what would be in the best interest for one’s self in the long term. Keith Goree, et al. (2013) Long term effects could mean that Mary would be fired and she would be out of a job, also it could prevent her from being able to ga... ... middle of paper ... ...r malpractice if a patient were given a surgery based on findings and it turned out they actually did not need the surgery. If you really think about the situation from all aspects it would be really damaging to make a careless choice with others medical information. The most appropriate choice would be to alert the proper people to make sure the patients were aware of their need to return to the office for another blood draw and allow the testing be done knowing the proper person is being considered. A person who values their job and wants to portray good character would clearly know without a doubt that the right choice would be to go with your gut instinct and do the right thing. I am sure this type of problem arises often and it definitely makes me think twice about my own medical concerns and hope that the people handling my tests are doing so carefully!
This decision also has to be evaluated on the basis of internal criteria. For the internal criteria, a person has to look inside oneself to evaluate the decision. Does the person feel satisfied with the decision and promote these values? The doctor’s decision does not give the inner sense of contentment; we experience “hate, discontent…confusion” (Panicola 71). Nobody wants to become a liar, thus it is not consistent with the kind of a person one would want to become.
The four major ethical principles in health care are: Autonomy – to honor the patient’s right to make their own decision (the opposite is paternalism - the health care provider knows best for the patient), Beneficence – to help the patient advance his/her own good, Nonmaleficence – to do no harm (many bioethical controversies involves this principle), and Justice – to be fair and treat like cases alike. All 4 principles are considered to be in effect at all times. In theory, each is of equal weight or importance. Ethical responsibilities in a given situation depend in part on the nature of the decision and in part on the roles everyone involved play.
There are many different thoughts and beliefs surrounding ethics. Ethic codes of conduct are in place. Ethics has always existed but has been more closely looked at over the last 40 years. There is discussion about futile care to patients in intensive care settings and do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders for surgical patients. Guidelines and regulations need to be followed and set forth.
What ethical decisions should the physician have at that point? Explain and justify your position. What theory and/ or principle did you use as a basis for your rationale?
In this diverse society we are confronted everyday with so many ethical choices in provision of healthcare for individuals. It becomes very difficult to find a guideline that would include a border perspective which might include individual’s beliefs and preference across the world. Due to these controversies, the four principles in biomedical ethic which includes autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice help us understand and explain which medical practices are ethical and acceptable. These principles are not only used to protect the rights of a patient but also the physician from being violated.
Morality plays a huge role in the health care field. This principle of right and wrong behavior is significant to every doctor when evaluating the merits and difficulties of many medical procedures. One may find the advancement of medical technologies hard to endure, however, this increase in medical technology serves as a solution to our human imperfections. For example, using in-vitro fertilization to pick and choose embryos regarding an ideal genetic baby or human cloning. If we screen an embryo for a tissue type, we can then allow certain physical traits for the baby. We can choose their eye color, type of intelligence, athleticism, and talent that could suggest our babies nonetheless, perfect
The nursing code of ethics has a very standard definition. It is the base on how nurses should guide themselves in conduct by making the right decision regarding ethical issues. According to the National Student Nurses Association “students of nursing have a responsibility to society in learning the academic theory and clinical skills needed to provide nursing care” (2003). In the clinical setting nurses have a lot of responsibilities while caring for an ill patient, they have the obligation to practice their profession with compassion, love, and respect the uniqueness of each patient, as nurses we are not supposed to deny care to a patient because of their economic status, their skin color, race, or the nature of health problems, we are here to help the people in need in particular those of susceptible populations. The NSNA states that the code of conduct is based on an understanding that to practice nursing as a student is an agreement that trust and honesty is depended on us by society. The announcement of the code provided direction for the nursing student in the personal development of an ethical foundation and not limited to the academic or clinical environment but can assist in the holistic development of a person. (National Student Nurses Association, 2003)
In the code of ethics, the very first ethical principles that nurses are expected to uphold in order to exemplify that they are competent professionals are autonomy, beneficence, and nonmaleficence. That is, nurses as professionals are expected to advocate for their patients while preserving their respect and dignity and
Rethinking Medical Ethics: A View from Below and Mountains beyond Mountains are two readings that will be further analyzed to demonstrate how re-socializing and re-humanizing medicine concurrently may be of importance to global health. As a recap, the former is a philosophical work that gives context to the idea of re-socialization in the medical field (Farmer). The latter is a literary, non-fictional piece that documents the life of Paul Farmer, from his early upbringing to his involvement with treating infectious diseases, from a third-person point of view (Kidder). From engagement with these readings, I have found the critical assessment of the upstream causes of health inequality as it pertains to a particular country's political, economic
The Allied Health Council was established on April 8th 2013. “The Code Of Ethics” developed to set behavior expectation of a registered employee of the Allied Health based on obligation. The first to get in best interest of patient and public and ethical principles of Beneficence this reflects to being good to others and treating them with respect, doing no harm to others respect your patient's privacy and confidentially, right to refuse or choose their treatment there and provision Health Service and personal dignity evaluate. Improvement of “the code of conduct” of the Allied health field involves the word good and bad are used in many different ways when you say a good person we say that because we think they are for the best of us not for
McGee, Glenn and Arthur L. Caplan. "Medical Ethics." Microsoft® Encarta® 98 Encyclopedia. © 1993-1997: Microsoft Corporation. CD-ROM.
Integrity, respect for persons, justice, non-maleficence, and responsibility are all identified within the code, however compassion is not directly stated but is implied. To show compassion for others during suffering is an almost automatic response in nursing. When nurses decide to act either beneficently or non-maleficently they are doing a service to those being cared for. When dealing with human lives moral value becomes especially important, and is not situationally dependent. Ethical neutrality does not have a place in professional ethics, and an obligation to respect the moral values is necessary. The code deals with specific issues related to the nursing profession, and ensures standards are upheld. Creation of code of ethics within a profession limits misconduct, create safeguards, promote trust for the profession within society, and preserves the integrity of the profession (Soskolne, 1984) It is important for me to emphasize the difference between the nurse’s code of ethics and the Hippocratic Oath. The nurses ethical code is tailored toward the care provided to the patient, and not the involved science and diagnostic aspect of the
Everyone has the right to the best medical care that health care providers can offer. It would be unjust not to collect data on patients if it meant that it would be detrimental to the quality of health care that can be provided. It is our duty to others to create systems that promote the most happiness and quality of health for everyone. The anonymity of the data collected also makes the collection of the data itself a just act. Because only the insurance companies have access to the individual identities of the data there is little risk of exposure and does not cause any unnecessary harms. If there were a data breach and personal records are released to the public, the benefits of the data collection far outweigh the consequences of the data leak. The ability to
As a law enforcement officer, my fundamental duty is to serve mankind; to safeguard lives and property; to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against violence or disorder; and to respect the constitutional rights of all men to liberty, equality and justice.
A situation like this would have violated the ethical principle of beneficence. Beneficence is central in the field of health care (5). Our priority as health care practitioners, and health care practitioners in training, is to have our patients’ best interests at heart (5). Being ignorant and negligent about the precautions, assessment principles and assessment methods is an example of being unbeneficial and non-therapeutic to the patient. It is also a waste of the patient’s