Personal Statement On Ethics And Ethics

My personal ethics have been formed through family influence, religious beliefs, life experiences, my internal reflection and the culture in which I was raised.

My personal code of ethics is Equality and Sensibility. I believe in a predictable system that assures the well-being of all, especially those without power, is a just system. As a wife, mother, nurse and a member of a community, I strive to do the best I can in every aspect of my life. As a mother, I strive to be a good role model to my children and teach them the fundamentals of life. I strive to be able to give a solid foundation and an easy path to life whether it be school, finding who they want to be as they grow older and for a productive future. As a nurse, I strive for equality of care for every patient and to be able to be their voice when they are not

Every day people make decisions that may have profound effect on their personal and/or professional lives as well as the lives of others. The decision people make have a foundation on their personal, cultural, and perhaps organizational values. When these values are in disagreement, an ethical dilemma occurs.

According to Merriam-Webster, ethics is defined as an area of study that deals with ideas about what is good and bad behavior. Some would argue that definition is rather vague. A more complete understanding of ethics would suggest that it is more than just an area of study but rather a way of life; moral principles that govern a person's or group's behavior. If one is ethical and has good moral standards, it is usually seen in that person. Simply put, ethics could be considered the standards of behavior as to which society accepts.

Guido describes ethics as “a process of determining right conduct from wrong” (para 2, p. 3). My personal view of ethics is along the same lines as this and has been instilled in me my entire life. My code of ethics includes respect for myself and others; honesty in my endeavors, graciousness in both my personal and professional lives, and accountable for my actions. I use nonmaleficence and beneficence in every aspect of my life. I also strive to honor the proverbial do unto others as they would do unto me.

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.

In the workplace as well as one’s personal life is essential for ethics to be maintained; often taking the right action is not always the most popular choice. It is important for maintaining an upstanding ethical code of conduct to be a productive individual as well as function as an employee in the workplace.

“Great individuals have great ethics and great values.” Ethics and morality can be used interchangeably as they sound as if they mean the same although there is a wide distinction between them. “Strictly speaking, morality is used to refer to what we would call moral standards and moral conduct while ethics is used to refer to the formal study of those standards and conduct. For this reason, the study of ethics is also often called moral philosophy." (Gordana D 2007)

Growing up in a religious background, my Catholic beliefs reflect and shape my own personal values. As a Catholic, I was taught to always respect your elders, treat others as how you would like to be treated, never put anyone’s name in vain, distinguish right from wrong, and work for the common good. By these codes of ethics, I have always believed in and live by. My parents played an important role in developing my values of Respect, Integrity, Humility, Trust, Accountability and Responsibility. Through their actions and hardships, they expressed their struggles they faced leaving their country and coming to the United States in order to provide their family with more opportunities and a better life. Both my parents were born in poverty and in a corrupt government. They both have strong religious background, where religion is their force and motivation to never give up and to keep moving forward through the struggles. From their story, it set an example for me on how to live life and that I should never take anything for granted in life. I am grateful from where I come from and who I am. My actions make me who I am and it is important for me to always do the right actions. This applies in both my personal and professional life. The major aspect I learned is that nothing in life is permanent and live life to the fullest. I will never take failure personal and will not let it dictate my life.

As I enter my junior year in college I can see my career right ahead of me. I am attending Grand Valley State University to become a Physician Assistant. This makes me think about my involvement in people 's health. This also makes me think about the responsibilities I have my patients and their well being. To be prepared for all of the challenges I will need to focus my attention on biomedical ethics. There are morals that have been engrained into my character. These include what is right or wrong and how I will behave in certain situations. I will compare my personal and professional ethics in order to be ready for my healthcare career. My personal ethics are deeply implemented into my professional ethics. This could make conflicts arise between my professional workplace and personal ethical view because of differing perspectives on issues. My personal ethics govern how I behave and help me to navigate through ethical dilemmas. My professional ethics could be restricted however, because of a code of conduct put in place by my employer. A code of conduct states principles expressing responsibility, and defines rules expressing duties of professionals to whom they apply. (Pozgar, 2016) I rely on ethical theories including virtue ethics, utilitarian ethics and principles of ethics to make my judgements.

Making consistently ethical decisions is difficult. Most decisions have to be made in the context of economic, professional and social pressures, which can sometimes challenge our ethical goals and conceal or confuse the moral issues. In addition, making ethical choices is complex because in many situations there are a multitude of competing interests and values. Other times, crucial facts are unknown or ambiguous. Since many actions are likely to benefit some people at the expense of others, the decision maker must prioritize competing moral claims and must be proficient at predicting the likely consequences of various choices. An ethical person often chooses to do more than the law requires and less than the law allows.

Today’s business world presents numerous ethical issues. In today’s world above board/moral ethics in organizations do not often materialize intuitively. Organization must strive to provide employees with a clear understanding of the overall company vision. This will aid employees in practicing the code of ethics, policies and procedures in the workplace. Companies must be unwavering in continuously delivering the uppermost ethics of provision in which customers, applicants and employees are entitled to under fair business practices. One major core value is to uphold responsible and fair business practices.

When asked to reflect on an ethical dilemma that I faced in life, it really makes me think of all the possible situations that happened in my personal and professional life. There are several instances where I have faced ethical dilemma but I wish to point out to one such instance that I encountered at my workplace where I was able to take decision based on my conscience and I feel I have made the right choice and below is the reflective account of that incident.

In today's world, individuals can make a single decision that can have a profoundly positive or negative effect on their family, their employer, coworkers, a nation, and even on the entire world. The life we lead reflects the strength of a single trait: our personal character. Personal ethics are different for each person but for the most part, people want to be known as a good person, someone who can be trusted, and he or she are concerned about his or her relationships and personal reputations. As we go through this paper, we will focus on answering what are ethics, what are your ethics, where do your ethics come from, and how do you manifest your ethics?

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.