Ethics is defined as “the branch of philosophy that seeks to understand the nature, justification, purposes, and founding principles of moral rules and the systems they compromise” (Pozgar, 2016, p. 3). Ethics deals with the “values relating to human contact specifically focusing on the rightness and wrongness of an action, along with the goodness and badness of motives and its ends” (Pozgar, 2016, p. 3). Ethics is studied to help us make sound judgments, right choices, and good decisions. It is specifically used in healthcare to help “anticipate and recognize healthcare dilemmas while making good judgments and decisions based on universal values that also work simultaneously with laws and the constitution” (Pozgar, 2016, p. 3). When laws …show more content…
13). During the time of her case was also the time of Jim Crow, which is why she did not receive quality care based on her race. Hopkins would not treat Blacks or other that could not afford medical care even though it was only 20 miles from her home. Certain areas all over the world practice different medical treatments, and personally I find this disturbing past the point of religion. My personal ethical opinion is that all patients should be treated with the best quality care, no matter where they come from, or what they have done. To me, a life is a life. My professional ethical view is the same as any other rightfully trained healthcare provider. Healthcare professionals must take an oath stating that one must care for patients as individuals and they should be provided with the best possible care regardless of their age, ethnicity, sexuality, religious beliefs or politics. It is the clinician’s ethical duty to not be judgmental, but supportive of the patient’s choices. As a healthcare professional, I could never be judgmental of a patient’s choices. It is their body and they have to right to say what they want or do not want to be done to it.
While visiting John Hopkins, Henrietta met with Howard Jones, the gynecologist that was on duty. He noticed the lesion on her cervix, however this was nothing like anything he had seen before. During their consultation, Howard Jones took a small sample, sent it to pathology, and sent Henrietta home. After
Studies have shown that many factors have been contributing to influence patient’s care in an ethical manner. What factors could affects one decision for their medical care? Does it also included the nurse’s individual views or should consider their moral obligations? But what is ethics really is? Based on the book Nursing Ethics by Butts & Rich, “Ethics is a systematic approach to understand, analyze, and distinguish matters of right and wrong, good and bad, and admirable and deplorable as they relate to the well-being”. Ethics should follow the current AMA guidelines.
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
Ethics are defined as “a set of moral principles and perceptions about right versus wrong and the resulting philosophy of conduct that is practiced by an individual, group, profession, or culture” (Barker, 2001, p. 159). In the field
Henrietta struggled with pain, bumps on her cervix, and abnormal bleeding. Henrietta was admitted into Johns Hopkins Hospital and was diagnosed with cancer in her cervix. Failing to mention her illness to her family, Henrietta began treatment at the hospital and her doctor was more than happy to help her due to his ulterior motive which was to use her
Once Henrietta Lacks gained enough courage to admit herself to Johns Hopkins and receive what she thought was normal medical treatment for what ultimately turned out to be cancer of the cervix, speculated to have been caused by HPV given to her from her abusive husband, the struggle of her ailment became unknowingly at the time the cure for millions of people and the legal and ethical issues developed. The legal issues at hand were did Dr. Gey steal Henrietta’s cells for personal gain to have his lifelong dream of duplicating cells literally come to life? How did Johns Hopkins as the institution profit from
Henrietta first reported that she felt “Knots” in her pelvis area when she first went to a black only hospital before she went to the John Hopkins Hospital, where she was treated by Doctor George Gey.
After Henrietta gave birth to Joe, her youngest child out of 5, she found out something wrong with her. That is when her husband took her to the hospital where Howard Jones, a gynecologist found the cervical tumor. Howard
Informed consent should be legally required Having a voice in a conversation means possessing the right or power to make a decision about something. It is shocking how people are still left in the dark not knowing what really happens to their cell, tissues, or blood after they are removed. In the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, the author tells the story about the experiences of the Lack’s family and Henrietta’s journey leading to the discovery of her immortal cells which later became known as HeLa cells. The privacy of patients should be confidential and not be shared without their written consent. Doctors’ practices on patients should be changed for several reasons, such as the safety for the privacy of the
Between early June 1951 and Henrietta’s death on October 4, 1951, doctors involved in her treatment would continue to violate ethics code. Henrietta complained of discomfort in early June that morphed into pain. During the 1950s, segregation was still occurring in the country (Skloot, 2010, p. 63). Therefore, it was common for black patients to not question white professionals (Skloot, 2010, p. 63). It was also common practice for doctors to withhold information from patients so they would not be upset or confused by medical terms such as cancer (Skloot, 2010, p. 63). Within two months, the pain was so severe she could be heard screaming a block away from her home (Skloot, 2010, p. 65). By the time doctors examined her properly, she was inoperable and a “stony hard mass” (Skloot, 2010, p. 64) could be felt on her abdomen. The doctors during previous follow up visits wrote notes about her complaints but still stated no evidence of reoccurrence. Therefore, these unnamed doctors did not demonstrate appropriate professionalism because they neglected to perform a thorough exam required to give Henrietta a proper diagnosis breaching codes: 1.04 integrity, 1.07a exploitative relationship, 2.09 treatment/intervention
Because of past medical practices, doctors would mistreat their patients’ rights, especially women of color. In Henrietta Lacks’ case, her doctor, Dr. Jones, at John Hopkins Hospital removed part of her healthy and cancerous cervical tissues samples and sent it for medical research without her consent just months before she died.
What exactly does the term “ethics” mean? When asking this question among several different groups of people, I’m sure all of their answers would be different in many ways, but would all draw the general theme that ethics is somewhat of a study of what is right and what is wrong. This is a mostly correct conclusion, except for the fact that it encompasses not only determining what is right and wrong, but attempting to systemize and defend those ethical positions which one holds. Almost all of the controversial headlines you see in the media today involve some sort of question of ethics. Abortion. Healthcare. (“Should we take money from the rich and give to the poor to pay for medical expenses?”) Gun laws. Euthanasia, etc. The topic I want
During the time when Henrietta Lacks was being treated for her cervical cancer, it was the time of segregation. Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman who was diagnosed with cancer and most hospitals were segregated. The Berkeley Science Review’s Alexandra Del Carpio states, “At the time, Johns Hopkins was the only option in the area for African Americans seeking medical treatment.” (Del Carpio) Henrietta did not have a choice about which hospital to go to seek treatment. Since Johns Hopkins was the only hospital to treat black people, she could not even make a decision about which hospital to go to. In bigpictureeducation.com, they exclaim, “Henrietta Lacks did receive free health care treatment for her cervical cancer, but, as she was African American, she had to travel miles to a segregated hospital to be treated.” (Big Picture) Notwithstanding Johns Hopkins provides Henrietta with free healthcare, she has to travel a distance to receive this care. Nobody knew about the struggles that Henrietta has dealt with by Rebecca Skloot helped her share her story. Rebecca Skloot is an author who specializes in the science and medical category and is mostly known for her book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. In this book she writes, “Henrietta was a black woman born of slavery and sharecropping who fled north for prosperity, only to have her cells used as tools by white scientists without her consent.” (Skloot) For the reason that Henrietta was black, the doctors at Johns Hopkins thought that they were capable of doing whatever they wanted with her. They viewed her as an experiment Considering her cells are unlike others and they never asked her for her permission. The racial aspect played a huge role in the impact of HeLa cells. If they did not occur, then the whole world would not have the knowledge of today’s modern
It provides health-care professionals with ethical principles and standards by which to guide their practice. There are boundaries to the roles most of the codes can be used within. The expectation of what an ethical code can do changes depending on how ethical code in general is understood (Troy & Beringer, 2006).From my conclusion an ethical code can establish important values and describe a common ethical background for health care but is of limited use with solving new ethical problems.
Ethics are rules of conduct and moral principles of an individual which have various origins such as family, culture, and social environment. Given the diversity of people in the healthcare profession and the importance of providing care that is ethically sound
According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, ethics is defined as “moral principles that govern a person’s or group’s behavior.” Therefore, in an ideal world, ethics should play the ultimate role when making a decision. If ethics are the principles which guides one’s behavior then, ideally, all decisions should be made entirely based on ethics. Unfortunately, such is not always the case.