Health And Social Care Ethics

One of the main ethical issues that faces health care is the security of patient information. This information is protected by laws and regulations such as HIPPA, but there are still concerns Scott, et al, 2005). Among those concerns is the new concept of electronic patient records and information. These records are designed to help hospitals and doctors get patient information more quickly, so that patients can receive treatment as soon as possible. Unfortunately, anything kept and transmitted on a computer has the potential to be hacked, so that is a serious concern for patients. Not all patients want their medical records to be available electronically, but they may not have too many options (Romano & Stafford, 2010). Opting out may not be an option for them, and if they do have that option it could reduce the speed and quality of treatment that these patients would receive. Do they want to risk that, just so they can feel as though their medical information is better protected?

In health and social care, four key Ethical Principles that are taken into account during these settings. Which are:

In this essay I will be elucidating and explaining the legal and ethical issues relate to health and social care. Legal and ethical issues are usually involved individuals having to abide, practise of law. Though, in most cases there will be a consequence for not abiding by the law. Within the health care setting, professionals practice, there are many regulating, jurisprudence and criterion of practice. Performing an abortion is legal, may not be considered ethical by other health care professionals or member of employers.

There are a number of ethical consideration that should be evaluated and implemented when it comes to healthcare research. Healthcare research is conducted in a number of ways, each way different from the other trying to come up with conclusions for specific issues in the industry. Qualitative research method is a research method in healthcare that focuses on explaining problems in their context. Through this method of research data is gathered in its entirety and represented fully. Due to the broad application of the research method and the manner in which the data required is produced, this form of research requires a number of ethical considerations.

This report will be analysing the policies and legislations guiding the service user and the organisation caring for them. The importance of ethics in social care will also be explained .the case study will be discussed using the policies and legislations provided by the government.

Nurses are constantly challenged by changes which occur in their practice environment and are under the influence of internal or external factors. Due to the increased complexity of the health system, nowadays nurses are faced with ethical and legal decisions and often come across dilemmas regarding patient care. From this perspective a good question to be raised would be whether or not nurses have the necessary background, knowledge and skills to make appropriate legal and ethical decisions. Even though most nursing programs cover the ethical and moral issues in health care, it is questionable if new nurses have the depth of knowledge and understanding of these issues and apply them in their practice

(Panza & Potthast, n.d.) Ethics is very important to a company’s success. Ethical behavior can bring benefits to a business. They can attract customers, which can lead to a boost in sales and profits. It can attract the right employees and increase productivity. It can also attract investors and keep the company’s share price high. Unethical behavior on the other hand can damage a company’s reputation and make it less appealing to stakeholders. It could also result in lower profits.

As a health care provider, I believe physicians do have the right to refuse certain procedures do to morals or religious beliefs. I have seen as a physician had stated to me "fire" a patient. The reasons he gave were that the patient never showed up for her prenatal visits. A letter was sent to the patient many times about coming to prenatal visits, but she never showed up. When the patient didn't respond, she was let go from that physicians practice. The physician felt morally that he couldn't provide the optimum care for the patient, and it was in the patients best interest to get her care elsewhere. Another physician suggested the patient go to another hospital for care because she wanted only women caring for her, for religious reasons, and only male physicians were working that day. The patient and her husband talked about it and decided to stay, and they ended up loving the care they received from the male physicians. I have also seen many doctors refer early second trimester abortions to a physician that could accommodate the patient. Most

I blew the whistle in this situation when the lack of ethical care for residents and work ethics fell short of the normal standards. As a care provider one must always be aware of that the dignity of the client when it comes to their care. I return to my regular position after three months of working graveyards to find that the residents were being brought to the dining room in the hospital gowns. There was no regard for the resident’s dignity. Their backs were exposed and often the gown was exposing their chest. No one took in count how the resident must feel going into the dining room so exposed. The staff could of a least put on clothing over top of the gown or a sweater to hide what they were wearing. And use a lap blanket so they

Everyday, healthcare professionals are faced with ethical dilemmas in their workplace. These ethical dilemmas need to be addressed in order to provide the best care for the patient. Healthcare professionals have to weigh their own personal beliefs, professional beliefs, ethical understandings, and several other factors to decide what the best care for their patient might be. This is illustrated in Mrs. Smith’s case. Mrs. Smith is an 85 year old who has suffered from a large stroke that extends to both of her brains hemispheres which has left her unconscious. She only has some brain stem reflexes and requires a ventilator for support. She is unable to communicate how she wishes to proceed with her healthcare. Mrs. Smith’s children, Sara and Frank have different views regarding their mother’s plan of care. The decision that needs to be made is whether to prolong Mrs. Smith’s life, as Sara would like to do, or stop all treatments and care, as Frank feels his mother would want. In the healthcare field, there are situations similar to this case that happen daily where moral and ethical judgment is necessary to guide the decision that would be best for the patient. The purpose of this paper is to explore and discuss, compare and contrast the personal and professional values, ethical principles, and legal issues regarding Mrs. Smith’s quality of life and further plan of care.

With a growing epidemic of obesity in America, some states and lawmakers have resorted to taking unconventional measures in order to counter the growing issue. Many legislators are debating the effectiveness of a “fat tax” would be on limiting the consumption of soda, high fat foods, and high sugar foods, and ultimately reducing the rate of morbidity and mortality due to obesity. The idea is that long term consumption of high fat, high sugar foods and drinks lead to many health problems, so making them more expensive and less accessible should decrease the health issues related to their consumption.

Bioethics has a key role in a variety of social, political, and scientific activities. It has reshaped the medical field by introducing informed consents from the patient to the doctor. Medicine plays a role in shaping the values of society. Civilizations are organized around ways of transcending pain and suffering and achieving salvation. In our society, medicine is at the core of this vision since it helps to alleviate pain and suffering and brings us close to salvation.

Individuals possessing a good understanding of ethics have immense value in a workplace environment. A character that is morally driven and contains qualities such as honesty, trustworthiness, reliability and fairness, would be of immense value as the business' or the workplace's success is highly reliant on the continuation of having workers that morally fitting and literate. Without the presence of ethical business behavior in any working environment, success can be hard to achieve and it can spoil the whole business culture and environment that the organization is running on as an unethical virus can take over which would be very challenging to remove.

There are important, distinguishable differences between medical ethics and public health ethics. Medical ethics pertain primarily to the individual that is involved in the care paradigm (Coleman, Bouësseau, Reis, & Capron, 2007). Public health ethics, by contrast, are focused primarily on the health of the population as a whole. The American Public Health Association has published its own code of public health ethics that it felt most appropriately provided guiding principles to the public health sector (Thomas, Sage, Dillenberg, & Guillory, 2002). Throughout the public health code of ethics, the emphasis is clearly and definitively focused on the word “community”. The connection between individuals interacting in the community is stressed to show the importance of individual health on the community as a whole. The public health code of ethics is focused more generally on the health care provided to communities and populations and does not focus directly on a specific professions interactions should be with a patient, but instead broadly stated what “public health” should do. In comparison, The AMA Code of Medical Ethics focuses specifically on what the physician should do (Riddick, 2003). Although the AMA Code of Medical Ethics directly mentions the need for a physician to recognize the importance of community and public health, as well as supporting access to all people, it also mentions that a physician should be able to choose freely who and where to practice and

Growing up we are taught by our parent about the law but ethics is something we pick up from our environment and our peers. Ethical behavior is important for the welfare of society as a whole. What we can and cannot do is inherently instilled in us from a very young age. In today’s competitive market, ethics is one of the most important aspects to business development. Business decisions are implemented with a right and wrong mentality. To a business ethics is an instrument used to exam principles and morals in a business environment because something for example polluting the environment may be legal but is it moral for a company to do so? Therefore, business ethics helps to implement social responsibility, individual ethics and moral