Importance Of Code Of Ethics

Are Codes of Ethics Necessary?

Do we need Codes of Ethics? Most professions have their own Code of Ethics, so they must have some importance. Some people believe ethics do not need to be written down, but I think differently. The Principles of the Ethical Practice of Public Health article states, “ A code of ethics thus serves as a goal to guide public health institutions and practitioners and as a standard to which they can be held accountable.” Ethics are important and we all have them, but they are not all the same, so writing them down will create a guideline for people to follow. Codes of Ethics are necessary to be known and available to the public. We should be able to know what to expect and how we should be treated. I agree with the

These people could believe this because they think that ethics are just common sense, but the problem is not everyone has common sense. Another reason could be that most people live by the same ethics, but not everyone one does. This is why without codes of ethics there are no guidelines for employees to follow, and this can cause problems. There would also be no way to say a person is treating people badly, because without written codes of ethics there would be no way to confirm that what a person is doing is unethical. For example if someone was unconscious for a surgery a doctor could rape the patient and argue that it is not wrong because the person was unconscious and will never know, but to most this would be wrong and without codes of ethics this doctor could not be punished. This shows that codes of ethics are very important, especially when it comes to public

They should just be an outline or a guideline to follow, not a book. This is also stated in The Principles of the Ethical Practice of Public Health article. It says, “Codes of ethics are typically relatively brief; they are not designed to provide a means of untangling convoluted ethical issues.”(PHLS) So as you can see Codes of Ethics are not meant, and should not be extremely long. They should provide just enough information to the reader for them to have an idea of the ethics the institution goes by. If the reader needs further explanation they will have to research it on their own