Importance Of Ethics In Healthcare

Great Essays
I.) Introduction:
Ethics is a type of philosophy that studies ideal human behavior and ideal ways of being. This philosophy will aid in the understanding and distinguishing between right and wrong. Ethics implication isn’t always apparent and people have different opinions of what is right and wrong. Due to these different opinions of what is right and wrong one may find themselves in an ethical dilemma. In order to improve and solve ethical dilemmas one must have ethical relativism. Ethical relativism is the belief that it is justifiable that ethics and morals differ from person to person and society as a whole. The purpose of this paper is to identify and explore an ethical dilemma and the components, such as the stakeholders, policies, and
…show more content…
Almost every decision that those in healthcare make have ethical implications. These implications have the ability to affect patients and healthcare professionals. Patients and the patient’s family can experience a lot of stress when decisions need to be made in regards to invasive procedures or end-of-life-care. When patients are dealing with illness and families are reacting to their loved ones illness decisions become more difficult to make for everyone involved. Members of the healthcare team will aid in the decision making process by providing information on various procedures or treatments. The healthcare team may question and disagree with the decisions made by the patient and their family, which is why one may find themselves facing an ethical dilemma (Butts & Rich, 2016).
According to Rohland (2016), “an ethical dilemma is a complicated situation in which one must make a difficult choice or decision in the face of conflicting morals, or the values one uses to determine the difference between right and wrong” (p.1). An ethical dilemma is composed of components that make it hard to determine what the right thing to do is (Rohland, 2016). When a person is dealing with an ethical dilemma none of the available options may feel right. In fact the two or more available options may all feel wrong. (Butts & Rich,
…show more content…
Then, we would start treating him again as he requested. I often times wanted to say during their conservations about his health to the sister-in-law that the decisions and choices are his to make not hers. I wanted to tell him that he had to make up his mind on what he wanted for himself and to disregard how his sister-in-law feels about it. It felt as if the patient was too ashamed to just give up on his health in front of sister-in-law and he didn’t want to let her down. In this situation I was faced with two options and neither of the options felt right. One thing was apparent in this situation a final decision needed to be made. This decision included if we continue the treatment or if we would stop all treatment along with making the patient comfortable during the dying

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    An ethical dilemma is considered a circumstance that requires someone two equally unfavorable situations. Unfortunately the ethical dilemma does not solve the initial problem, but nurses and other health care providers must assess and clarify the ethical dilemma and gather data. Once the dilemma has been identified, healthcare providers can identify options and make decisions to act (Black, 2017). In the Lee’s case, these strategies were not put into place soon enough. Step one in the ethical decision making model is identifing the problem and factors maintaining the problem.…

    • 1023 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It is a simple fact of life that at some point in our lives, we will be faced with a moral dilemma. These situations arise due to the fact that as professionals, we are bombarded with the ethical standards and principles of different stakeholders. We all develop a personal moral code, but what are we to do when this code differs from the code of our employer? The code our customers/clients? The law?…

    • 821 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    An ethical dilemma has no right or wrong decision with ethical decision making. Paramedics obtain their own personal direction, through their own personal values, beliefs and religion. Paramedics have to follow a code of ethics which includes ethical concerns which will be paramedics making decisions that may end an individual’s life. By the decision that they have made. But by making these decisions paramedics must remember they are personally responsible for an individual’s care and therefore they must be able to justify their decision making.…

    • 735 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dnr Ethical Issues

    • 736 Words
    • 3 Pages

    This video was extremely difficult to watch as I saw a team of healthcare workers fail to work cohesively for the best interest of the patient. Not only was there an ethical issue unfolding, but the poor communication and lack of team continuity was heart-wrenching. When reviewing this clip, it was clear that the lead physician, Will, did not have the full support of his team when going against the patient’s wishes to resuscitate. I believe that the healthcare team struggled during this emergency because they felt an internal ethical conflict. According to Cynda Hylton Rushton (2006), “moral distress involves an irreconcilable conflict between one’s ethical commitments and the action required for congruence between or among them” (p. 1).…

    • 736 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Ethical principles are not laws, but guiding principles about what is good and what is bad, that should direct doctors and other health care professionals in their work and decision making. Issues arising over end-of-life care involving decisions that affect the nature and timing of an individual's death raise difficult ethical conflicts for all concerned and can be a source of discord between health professionals within a team, health professionals and family members, or between different family members. Ethical dilemmas arise when there is a perceived conflicting duty to the patient, such as a conflict between a duty to preserve life and a duty to act in a patient's best interests, or when an ethical principle such as respect for autonomy conflicts with a duty not to…

    • 3174 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Paramedic Case Dilemma

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Strong communication skills will be pertinent to ensure the wife makes an autonomous and considered decision based on all of the information that is available (Clarke et al, 2012). Beauchamp and Childress’s (2001) four principle approach: autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice; aims to provide a useful framework in which to follow to help aid in the ethical decision making. Beneficence and non-maleficence work hand in hand and involve balancing the risks and benefits of treatment whilst causing no harm. If the wife were to lack capacity the paramedics would be required to act in the patient’s best interests (Harris and Cowland, 2008) and could take into account beneficence and non maleficence. In this instance, hospitalised treatment will not change the overall outcome for the wife and would go against the principle of non maleficence, potentially prolonging the wife’s suffering.…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The only behavior and choices that one can control is one’s own (Haigh and Neville 3213). In health care, it is thought to be a fundamental ethical principle to respect a patient’s autonomy (Haigh and Neville 3213). When the principle of the right to autonomy conflicts with others, it should almost always come first and take precedence over other principles (Angell). One principle, or basis for a system of belief or behavior, that the right to autonomy could possibly come in conflict is the principle that all physicians and medical professionals should always care for the ill and keep them alive (Angell). Although nurses pledge to do no harm to their patients, it is ultimately the patient’s decision to decide what is best for them in the event that they may not have many other options (Angell).…

    • 1442 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Code Of Ethics Essay

    • 1007 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Ethics can be defined as the moral principles that dictate a person or groups’ behavior and decisions. Throughout the years, the human race has created a certain code of ethics, that most civilizations live by. When making a decision based on ethics, one must take into consideration all applicable variables that might be affected such as how this decision might benefit some people, and hinder others. Another thing to consider is the long term implications this decision might have. Ethical decision making is exceedingly important because in the long run, it’s what’s gotten our society to where it is today, humans make decisions based on ethics everyday, whether it be what movie to watch, or who to vote for.…

    • 1007 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ethical Issues In Nursing

    • 1349 Words
    • 6 Pages

    It is with no much doubt that the health care industry, above any other shows a high degree of concern for issues encompassing the wellness of their clients (patients). Ethical quandaries in health care are often times enthralling and exacting because it puts the health care worker in a position to come up with decision(s) that attempts to balance two or maybe more diverse opinions, both of which have their own ethical excellence. Every day, doctors, nurses and other health professionals are forced to make ethical decisions that abide by the code of ethics set by ethical committees in the health sector. The purpose of the codes is to guide healthcare givers towards identifying, understanding, and resolving tough ethical decisions that involves patients and their families. However, each ethical quandary demands a tradeoff of…

    • 1349 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The refusal of observations by John could potentially place his health at risk by preventing early detection of deterioration, this left the MDT with a moral dilemma. When discussing ethical dilemmas it was important in John’s case to involve all members of the MDT. Rich and Butts (2014) suggest that ethical decisions should involve all healthcare professionals in a patients care intervention. Similarly Finlay (2008) encourages the involvement of the patient in discussing ethical problems along with the healthcare professionals (in Ellis, 2015).…

    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There is a set of principles that we as nurses are obligated to follow. It is imperative that nurses are aware of legal issues so they stay within their scope of practice and comply with the state and federal regulations. Ultimately, the goal in making an ethical decision is to list all the options out and to choose between the possible treatments choices while recognizing different viewpoints. Nurses must advocate for what is the best for the patient above all else regardless if we do not agree. Coping and prevention strategies can be implemented by the nurse managers to prevent moral distress.…

    • 1056 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    An example of this is, a physician may ask a nurse to withhold information on a patient’s health status until further tests are done. Sometimes, a family member may request the health care professionals to not divulge to their loved one how aggressive their disease is. A palliative setting is defined as an environment where an individual with a severe life-threatening disease or aggressive diseases, are helped with decisions about end of life care (Erichsen, Danielsson, Friedrichsen, 2010). Health care professionals are faced with many ethical dilemmas especially when the family members of the patient disagree with how their loved one should be cared for; the disagreement of stopping a certain treatment, withholding fluids and nutrition, the signing of a “do not resuscitate” form, the administration of pain medication, disclosing their diagnosis and prognosis etc. (McCabe & Coyle, 2014).…

    • 1091 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As nurses, we sometimes get ourselves in situations whether or not to respect the client’s wishes when they are against the medical orders for care. In Burkhardt and Nathaniel (2014), ethical dilemmas are when there are conflicting morals happening with a patient. To help guide the nurses, ethical dilemmas require them to think critically about situations and figure out the appropriate decision to create the best outcome for their patient and patient’s family. According to Murray (2010), nurses require moral courage, which requires to them to stand up for what they believe in when it comes to providing the safest and ethically care for a patient. No matter how a situation conflicts with an ethical aspect, being able to speak up for the patient and knowing their best interest makes for better nurses.…

    • 1008 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Therefore, moral relativism is the most reasonable way to look at ethics as ethics can widely differ within its unique context. In identifying the ways of knowing, we have clarified that people take different approaches toward various ethical issues under their own unique context. Then, we explored the areas of study in which ethics are involved, and discovered that certain context, such as time period, can create different viewpoints on ethics. By clearly evaluating the meta-ethical theories after identifying the crucial elements that compose ethics, we discover that moral relativism is the most reasonable way to look at ethics as ethics can widely differ within its unique…

    • 1990 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Creating ethics in a moment’s notice, to having to be morally and ethically correct is unquestionably difficult for someone in the decision making process. What is considered moral? Whether we have a clear difference between what is right and wrong, is not always the case when it comes to ethical decision making. These choices can affect you for a long time, and make you think to yourself what if?…

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays