Module: Ethics and integrity for health professionals
Name: Alumai John Bosco
Reg No: 2016-MPH-RL-AUG-015
Submission date:
Assignment 1 (Revised)
Instructions:
• Answer both questions.
• The word limit including references is 1000 words
• Proper and complete referencing is expected for both questions.
• Plagiarism of any nature will lead to a zero mark
• Submit your assignment through the turnitin program.
• Acceptable similarity percentage is below 30%.
• A similarity index of above 30% gets a zero mark or a re-submission.
Questions
Question 1. Currently, most graduate programs include ethics education as part of their formal student learning outcomes. Using practical examples drawn from real world, explain why a graduate student
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Health care ethics is a set of moral principles, values and believes that guides health professionals in making choices about medical care and health care in general. It possesses the basis of right and wrong which guides the duties we owe to others.
Below are the reasons why a graduate student should have formal education of health care ethics;
• Knowledge in health care ethics and integrity will help to stimulate my moral imaginations and thoughts that will help situation understanding and judgment
• To be conversant in health care ethics and integrity will help me as a public health professional in handling moral and ethical dilemma’s in day to day practice
• Knowledge in health care ethics will also instill a sense of responsibility in me as a public health practitioner
• To be well versed in health care ethics and integrity will boost my analytical skills and capacity that will help in recognizing and dealing with moral and ethical issues
• The common good for a patient or clients is very important in health care practice and this understanding comes from health care ethics
• Knowledge of health care ethics will public health professionals to understand medico-legal implications and how to address
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Qn2.
As a public health practitioner; the ethical theory that suits and most times I will employ in my practice is utilitarianism.
In utilitarianism or consequentialists like public health practitioners believes in the common good for the majority of the population regardless of harm that might be caused to a few e.g. a few cases of paralysis realized after a mass vaccination with oral polio vaccine cannot rule out the fact that a million others have been saved from the same exercise and therefore stopping the exercise is neglect of duty.
The approach could lead to harm to some individuals as describe above however the overall objective is maximum benefit. It is based on evidence that is calculated, an example in the hospital setting could setting a target for the resuscitation of new borns or treatment given to cases of burn (degree of injury) based on the availability of time and resources.
There are two types of utilitarianism i.e. Act and Rule
The committees involve individuals from diverse backgrounds who support health care institutions with three major functions: providing clinical ethics consultation, developing and/or revising policies pertaining to clinical ethics and hospital policy and facilitating education about topical issues in clinical ethics. The goals of ethics committees are to promote the rights of patients; to promote shared decision making between patients and their clinicians; to promote fair policies and procedures that maximize the likelihood of achieving good, patient-centered outcomes; and to enhance the ethical environment for health care professionals in health care
Introduction In all healthcare, ethics have always played an important role and because of the role ethics has in healthcare, an organizations code of ethics is always under the microscope. An organization who is now under high scrutiny in the media is the Veteran Administration (VA). The Veterans Administration was created to take care of the American Military man/woman after the individual has honorably completed their service. With the recent events of the popular VA Scandal the VA code of ethics has been compromised.
Some of the resources that can assist employees like Mimi Hall and Gail Newel in executing public health measures in the face of opposition include the APHA Code of Ethics and the Pandemics Ethics Dashboard (Murtagh & Erwin, 2022). The APHA Code of Ethics provides a framework that acts as a guideline for public health professionals in making sound and ethical decisions (Murtagh & Erwin, 2022). It also offers principles and standards that champion the protection and alleviation of public health, and it can be utilized to communicate the essence and the rationale behind specific measures to the public. When professionals reference the APHA Code of Ethics, they showcase commitment to the ethical practice of public health and justify their actions.
The main function of the healthcare ethics committee is to resolve ethical conflicts by providing consultations and conflict resolution, answer ethical questions, promote patient rights and shared decision making between patients, surrogates, and their clinicians, promote fair policies and procedures that increases the probability of attaining good and patient-centered outcomes, and provide education (Ethics Committees, Programs, and Consultants, 2013). The committee reviews cases on a case-by-case basis and assists patients, family, and staff with coming to an agreement on the options that best met their needs (Healthcare Ethics Committee, 2013). The healthcare ethics committee is structured to include a broad span of community leaders in positions of political stature, respect, and diversity (Healthcare Ethics Committee, 2013). The healthcare ethics committee should include a multifaceted team, consisting of physicians,
Healthcare providers rely on ethical codes to establish guidelines and standards for addressing issues that arise. Associations representing the professional organization are tasked with the duty of developing and tailoring a code of ethics to assist its members to understand expectations in their professional role. For example the American Health Information Management Association and the American Physical Therapist Association established a code of ethics for its members. Each association considers the relation of the health professional obligations and constructs a code of ethics to serve as guidance to the professional. When reviewing the code of ethics for AHIMA and APTA, one may definitely draw parallels.
The committees involve individuals from diverse backgrounds who support health care institutions with three major functions: providing clinical ethics consultation, developing and/or revising policies pertaining to clinical ethics and hospital policy and facilitating education about topical issues in clinical ethics. The goals of ethics committees are: to promote the rights of patients; to promote shared decision making between patients and their clinicians; to promote fair policies and procedures that maximize the likelihood of achieving good, patient-centered outcomes; and to enhance the ethical environment for health care professionals in health care
The question of ethics has been an ongoing issue. Two things that are very important in medical ethics is morality and religion because this gives the rights to the physician, or doctor and also the relationship between the patient. In the article, The Code of Medical Ethics, a physician/doctor must recognize the responsibility to their patients, as well to society, to other health professionals, and to themselves (Riddick). Most people do not know who Henrietta Lacks is, or know how important her cells are. Unlike most cells, Henrietta’s seemed to be immortal; her cells never died.
Care ethics is the philosophical and ethical approach that emphasizes interpersonal relationships, compassion, and care between those patients and healthcare professionals. It stresses the interconnection of people and acknowledges the importance of intuition, sentiments, and emotions in making moral decisions. The first violation discussed was the lack of informed consent. Respecting the people’s bodies, especially those who are disadvantaged and marginalized is a crucial principle in care ethics. In the Tuskegee Syphilis research, the participant's right to make fully informed healthcare decisions was violated because neither their diagnosis nor the study's purpose was disclosed to them.
However, standards in medical ethics can help working professionals manage and create an
Nelson, William A. Healthcare Executive Column. July/August 2005; Making Ethical Decisions: A Six-Step Process Should Guide Ethical Decision Making in Healthcare; Healthcare Management Ethics. July/August
The ethical principle of utilitarianism should be applied. Utilitarianism is maximizing the happiness, good, or moral consequences of one’s decisions and actions. Utilitarianism in healthcare is to produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people (Butts & Rich,
* Risk to self or others * Rights of service-users and safety consequence * Differing priorities between stakeholders Health and social care workers as well as care takers can fall into different dilemma related to health and social care decision. One of the dilemmas is ethical dilemma. In this context dilemma must be encountered by health and social care providers and takers.
The four principles of biomedical ethics serve as the foundation of decision-making for healthcare professionals. There has been significant debate over which principle is most important to consider for achieving the best health outcome for patients. In this paper, I will argue why no single principle is more important than the other. My primary argument is to demonstrate multiple instances where a different principle is most important, which would imply that no single principle is most importance across all possible cases. Furthermore, I will interpret outcomes as they relate to the improvement in a patient’s health or condition.
Ethical theories are ways of telling right from wrong and include guidelines of how to live and act in an ethical way. For example when faced with a difficult situation in your life, you can use ethical theories to assist you in making the right decision. One key theory is consequentialism, which says that an individual’s correct moral response is related to the outcome/ consequence of the act and not its intentions/ motives. Early writers on this theory were Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, a modern writer is Peter Singer. For example Brenda Grey has asked for the asthma specialist to visit her weekly, and to decide if this is necessary the professionals involved have to look at how it would affect her wellbeing.
When faced with an ethical problem or issue in any career affecting societal concerns, I would use moral reasoning and the knowledge about ethical principles I learned in my assignments and courses to make an informed and moral decision when presented with an issue. In my courses at Ashford, I learned a great deal about ethics in the SOC 120: Introduction to Ethics and Social Responsibility course. From the academic knowledge I’ve gained through this course, I am able to apply the four ethical principles, autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice, as guidelines when faced with clinical decisions working in the medical field. In SOC 120, I was able to learn and research how ethics applies to healthcare, health professionals, and hospitals, which is essential for my career in health informatics, and as a pharmacy