A Case Study Depicting the Importance of Ethics in Medicine Essay

Ethics is a strongly culturally linked area of philosophy interrelated with what is considered acceptable human conduct. There are two branches of ethics; medical ethics and bioethics. The moral conduct and principles which govern practices of medical and health professionals falls under medical ethics, whereas in biomedicine and the health sciences theorised developments in the study of social and moral issues is considered bioethics(1). There are two philosophical principles within the conduction of health care research these are deontology and utilitarianism. Deontology is an approach to ethics that focuses on the rightness or wrongness of actions themselves, as opposed to the rightness or wrongness of the consequences of those actions (2). Utilitarianism states that the most benefit

For example, the Hippocratic oat, the prayer of Moses Maimonides, the bible, the Holy Koran, and the Islamic legacy, as well as cultures, traditions, and social morality have shaped and guided the development of ethical standards in the medical profession. The majority of these historical documents focus on “avoiding harm to patients” Ethics refers to a professional moral conduct. Ethics, particularly professional ethics, describes the moral actions based on professional character and ethical principles in each profession. The statements of medical ethics require the health care providers to do what is best for the patient and place the patients’ interests before the interests of the physician. Above all, the purpose of medical ethics is to protect and defend human dignity and patients’

The APA Code of Ethics stresses similar concepts as the NASW Code of Ethics such as: providing care for the patient/client with compassion and respect for human dignity and rights, upholding the integrity of the profession through professionalism, respecting the rights of patients and colleagues, practicing confidentiality including disclosing the limits of confidentiality to the patient, the physician/social worker should regard responsibility to the patient as the priority, and no sexual involvement with patients or colleagues. The two code of ethics also have differences. The APA Code of Ethics includes two sections on the medical side of the profession, which involves the continual commitment to medical education, and that a physician shall support access to medical care for all people. Overall, the APA Code of Ethics and the NASW Code of Ethics share several concepts as to how the physician/social worker should conduct themselves at

Provisions 7, 8 and 9 of the ANA Code of Ethics are concentrating on a number of areas. The most notable include: advancing the profession through knowledge / development of high standards, taking into consideration the health needs of various stakeholders, asserting values / social reforms and maintaining intraprofessional integrity / collective responsibility. These different areas are designed to provide a foundation of dealing with

It is voluntary and not mandatory. It is to ensure that professionals are ‘working to standard’, providing high- quality care and support and also being compassionate about it. The Code analyzes the standards of conduct, attitude, and behaviour that the general public and the people who use health and care services should expect from the service provider (code of conduct). The professional /practitioner have a duty of care to ensure that their conduct does not at any point in time fall below the standards detailed in the Code that guides them. Their actions must never be harmful to the safety and wellbeing of the people who use health and care services, and the public at large. It provides a set of clear standards so that the professional is sure of what is expected of him/her and can determine whether he/she is working in this direction and if need be make a change where necessary. (Code of ethics) Also, the practitioner can identify areas for continuing professional development and can fulfill the requirements of his/her role, behave correctly and do the right thing all the time. This is essential to protect people who use health and care services, the public and others from harm. (Code of

Thus, there are several ethical principles that are intimately involved including beneficence, justice, fidelity and autonomy. Beneficence is a major ethical principle involved because it calls the therapist to stand up for the well-being and safety of the Residents, such that when the therapist recognizes possibly harmful conditions, such as excessive restraint use, she is obligated to work to prevent harm if possible and stand up for their Resident rights (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2015b). Similarly, the principle of Justice requires that the therapist should stand up for the appropriate treatment of others and uphold laws and regulations (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2015b). As there are directly applicable laws and regulations to this dilemma, this principle of ethics requires the therapist to be aware of the relevant laws regarding restraint use, report the potentially unethical and illegal acts, and work with her employer to develop legal and ethical policies and procedures (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2015b). Adding to this ethical principle, under the Ohio Revised Code 5101.61, the therapist also has the professional duty to report suspected elder abuse (Public Welfare Provisions, 2018).

Code of Ethics of Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT) is to attain and uphold high standards of professional integrity toward clients, coworkers, employers, CAOT, etc. All the members of CAOT are required to follow the code of ethics. It talks about how members of CAOT should have qualities like integrity, loyalty, reliability, professional communication, etc. It also asks us to value and respect clients’ rights in their decision-making, rights to be treated with respect and dignity within a safe and non-judgmental setting, and respecting

The AOTA’s societal statement (2013) on health disparities asserts that OT practitioners have a duty to “intervene with individuals and communities to limit the effects of inequities that result in health disparities.” These disparities can be a result of many factors including social discrimination, access, and quality of health care as well as socioeconomic status (2013). The statement concludes by saying that OT practitioners have necessary skills and knowledge available to help these populations and that efforts to lessen or eliminate health disparities are supported by the Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics, 2010 (2013). This statement reaffirms the idea that even though it is not traditional OT, this is an area that OTs can and should be involved

Occupational therapy (OT) is a profession grounded in evidence-based and science-driven therapy focused on improving overall quality of life for individuals by engaging individuals in meaningful occupations (American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], 2014). OT has successfully shifted to a profession that requires OT practitioners to obtain a state license to practice (AOTA, n.d.). The shift requires OT practitioners to adhere to federal and state regulations surrounding the OT profession. Licensure laws and AOTA Code of Ethics (2015) identified the importance of requiring OT practitioners to become licensed professionals. Licensure is a necessary regulation and provides protection to clients who receive services by holding the OT practitioner accountable for services provided. OT practitioners and the OT profession as a whole are protected by licensure laws because it directly outlines the roles and responsibilities within each state. The AOTA Code of Ethics (2015) outlined lack of proper licensure is deemed unethical because the violator is breaking licensure laws and breaching the AOTA Code of Ethics.

Firstly, sexual misconduct as described by Richard Irons as "the overt or covert expression of erotic or romantic thoughts, feelings, or gestures by the professional toward the patient, that are sexual or may be reasonably construed by the patient as sexual." (Law Offices of SJ Spero, para. 2). The reason sexual relationships with patients are unethical because the patients are not at an understanding to what they are subjecting themselves to. As a therapist who forces this relationship, they are also abusing their stance of power and taking advantage of the patient’s trust. Another issue pertaining to the ethics of occupational therapy is the disrespecting of patients. One such occasion was at an unnamed hospital, where a patient was allowed to walk around with an unsanitary urine bag showing. The nurse on the floor that night had asked for a bag to cover up the said patients bag but was told that the patient did not have one and that he or she was too confused to know the difference (Barnitt). The issues lies therein that the patient’s wellbeing must be considered whether or not they are mentally capable enough to know for themselves. Therefore, professional sexual misconduct and patient disrespect are two morale issues that are faced in occupational

Ethics is an essential aspect of health care practice and those working in the nursing profession are often subject to frequent ethical dilemmas. It is essential for all nurses to be aware of the importance of ethics in health care and to practice within the ethico-legal parameters that govern the profession. However, while this is relatively easy in theory, ethics is not a black and white subject and often one’s culture, upbringing, attitudes and beliefs can influence what one views as ethical and this can therefore influence practice. This report will discuss the importance of ethics in nursing practice. The definition of ethics will firstly be presented followed

The Code of Ethics furnishes a definitive model of conduct. The standard of conduct is entrenched in associations, affiliations, confidentiality, and commitment with health care professionals. The Code of Ethics for healthcare quality professionals is dedicated to routine enhancement and preserving integrity by identifying individual accountability and ethical obligation to patients, medical providers, employees, health care organizations, and the community (Oddo, 2011). Ethics are not voluntary in the health care field. They are a vital and central part of medicine. Ethical codes form and assemble moral atmosphere and allotting the ethical accountability and

Ethical Codes are in use today by many organizations to clearly establish their values and provide a procedure if a code violation occurs. Medical ethics began as a professional code for physicians and has now expanded and includes a variety of health care professions and health care organizations. The growth of medical knowledge and technology have grown so have the concerns that ethical standards and issues facing our society today may be compromised or not appropriately addressed (Littleton et al., 2010).

Professionals in every field are always confronted with some kind of ethical issues. It has however been noted that these ethical issues become high in magnitude and extent when public officials are involved. Due to the involvement of human life, an industry like healthcare holds ethics in highest regard. Even though these healthcare practitioners are highly trained to deal with issues of these kinds, their decisions can sometimes have a lasting impact on their professional and personal lives (Edwards 2009).

Ethics is the branch of philosophy that deals with the principles correlated to human behavior concerning the rightness and wrongness of specific conduct, and to the good and bad that influences and ends those actions (Ditonary.com, 2011). In other words, ethics is the choice people effect in regards to a decision they need to achieve. Without ethics directing the choice an individual makes, moral preferences of what should or should not be done becomes irrelevant. While ethical decisions are made every day there are two different regions in which these choices are made.