Principles Of An Ethical Culture Within The Healthcare Organization

Secondly, the patient should be capable of making and communicating health care decisions for him or herself. Thirdly, the patient must be diagnosed with a terminal illness that will lead to death within six months.  Interested patients must also provide the request for termination in writing to the physician. In addition, physicians are expected to inform patients to alternative means of care including hospice care and other medications. Only after precautions evaluation, the laws then permit patients to make the ultimate life ending decision.

.“As medical technology continues to advance and health care choices become more complicated, the preservation of end-of-life autonomy is an increasingly important issue faced by various client populations.” (Galambos, 1998).

A philosophy of an organization helps differentiate themselves from their competitors and set a foundation for future success. It also helps shape an organization by presenting the goals they want to accomplish with specific activities. To improve this, many organizations understand the important of sharing values and goals and realize employee recognition. This helps staff from moving forward toward success of the organizations. Chapter 4 introduces “Codes of Ethics in Health Services.” Code of ethics is a guideline for healthcare professionals to accomplish and serve as a member of a society. Similar to other professions, managers have their own code of ethics in maintaining their duties and responsibilities. They also use the codes for ethical decision-making in dealing with ethical issues. Chapter 5 deals with “Organizational Responses to Ethical Issues.” It provides assistance for managers and organizations in their decision making. It is manager’s duty to figure out the problem and resolve it (Darr, 2011,

1.1 Caring for patients at the end of life is a challenging task that requires not only the consideration of the patient as a whole but also an understanding of the family, social, legal, economic, and institutional circumstances that surround patient care.

Caring for patients at the end of life is a challenging task that requires not only the consideration of the individual as a whole but also an understanding of the

Caring for patients at the end of life is a challenging task that requires not only the consideration of the patient as a whole but also an understanding of the family, social, legal, economic, and institutional circumstances that surround patient care.

Health care leadership begins with creating an honest environment. The core principles of ethics are beneficence (do good), nonmaleficence (do not harm), autonomy (control by the individual), and justice (fairness) (Flite and Harman 2013). Health care professionals has the responsibility of dealing with complex patient and healthcare system issues. According to, Limentani (1998), a code of ethics can assists with facilitating

The dying process for terminally ill patients can be a unpleasant and their body will decay and painful until they die. Indeed, "If healthcare systems truly want to deliver on their commitment to be "person-centered," then they must implement policies that respect the values of their consumers, including a patient's control over the circumstances of their looming death" (Lee Barbara Coombs, 39-41). Through Brittany Maynard effect people brought awareness to this issue because the choice she got to make her own medical decisions for her illness. The healthcare systems need to adopt policies that give the option to terminally ill patients control over their death. Patients control over their fate when they when they are diagnosed with incurable disease is important because it is our human right to have claim on what happens to our life.

The current health situation should be explained in a non-technical way so the patient (if possible) family, and or valid surrogate can understand every aspect. The physician should also help them understand when there is no hope for recovery. Most often the organs are no longer functioning, or there is little to no brain activity; at this point suffering potentially outweighs the probability of recovery. Medical teams most often realize that the focus should be on comfort, rather than extending a dying life. This decision comes with a great deal of uncertainty, and will always be hard, no matter what age of the patient, or the circumstances. Kathryn Kosh, MD explains that, “Ready access to advanced modern technology has changed death from an event to a process… Defying death requires payment [in the form of] pain and discomfort or in an unacceptable decline in the quality of life.” Often times physicians will not prescribe treatment in the first place knowing that this option will not benefit the patient, prolong suffering; and will likely end in termination anyway. Therefore, allowing the nature of the illness or injury to take its own course of action. Another point of interest regarding this topic is that medical teams realize in most cases, that providing an ethical and dignified death can be just as rewarding as administering aggressive measures to save a

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

With an increasing aging population and growing numbers of individuals with chronic conditions, it is important for individuals to prepare for end-of-life care. An Advance Directive is a defined as a “legal document that provides data to critical care staff about patients’ wishes, especially when critical illness decreases decision-making ability” (McAdam, Stotts, Padilla, and Puntillo, 2005). An Advance Directive also allows for better communication between the patient and doctor, and preserves the autonomy of patients. It may also alleviate one’s family from any possible burden of uncertainty of one’s wishes. It provides guidance, which may avert arguments with family members concerning treatment choices (Cedars Sinai, 2015). The Patient

A code of ethics highlights the responsibility and accountability standards of each and every employee within the organization. These codes are also motivating factors that guide the employees’ behavior, set the standard regarding ethical conduct, and build an organizations trustworthiness within

Whenever a situation poses the threat of a patient dying, there seems to be a sense of obligation at times that may drive physicians to do whatever it takes to try and save the patient. In some cases that could be the deciding factor in whether a person can get better or will die in the process. However, there are always situations that no one really wants to face that involve the terminally ill who have extremely low to no chance of recovery. Though a certain treatment will keep the patient alive, it can be seen as only prolonging the inevitable.

Ethical behavior is virtuous and beneficial for business in any type of organization. In healthcare, the outcomes are improved patient care, dedicated staff and healthcare providers, and amplified market share. It obliges leaders, managers, directors, and supervisors to have a comprehensive interpretation of the role of ethical decision making (Winkler, 2005). Ethical health care organizations have incorporated and combined ethical practices and values, continuing education on ethics for everyone involved, successful ethics substructure, and morally spirited and dauntless leaders (Winkler, 2005). These organizations have a vision and statements that directs behavior and decision making.

A patient being admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) often presents with a condition that necessitates aggressive treatments, but when the treatments are unsuccessful, end-of-life care (EOLC) is provided to ensure a satisfying death for both the patient and the family. “Death as it occurs in the ICU is neither simple nor natural. Caring for dying patients and their families is thought to be most stressful and painful to the nurses who must constantly attend the patients…” (Beckstrand & Kirchhoff, 2005). A nurse’s main focus in the ICU is curative, so this unfortunate reality of death forces nurses working on this floor to be prepared for EOLC with the patients and their representative families. However, the nurses in the ICU are not always well trained in their role in EOLC as they are primarily trained on caring for one to two patients at a time to increase the success rate of their treatments. This paper will focus on the role of nurses during EOLC in the ICU in relation to assessing the situation from a holistic point of view, finding interventions to help the family work through the process of death, and evaluating the outcomes of the used interventions, as well as the problems nurses face in addressing EOLC in the ICU.