Ethics Description Essay, Research Paper

The resurgence of ethics has been a striking phenomenon in the past decade.

Although ethics has always had a role in the healthcare field, only in recent

years has it become a subject of intense interest and controversy. In addition

to others, this interest has affected a variety of other fields as well, in

particular, philosophy, religion, social sciences, and law. Ethics are more than

just high quality morals. Using ethical knowledge, attitude, skills, and habits

require intellect, and finesse to properly apply them in the professional

organizational life. Reasons for increased societal focus on ethics in

organizations are many. Insider trading on Wall Street; defense contract

scandals, involving private and public sectors; rental car repair overcharges;

and resignation of over 100 Reagan administration officials have helped to keep

ethical issues in the public eye. What I want to do in this presentation to give

you all some valuable information to stimulate your own ethical aspects that you

may already have and to upgrade your present ethical intentions. The problem

that I would like to focus on here is the current ethical dimension that seems

to be present in most of the professional organizations. It seems to me that

there are those health care managers that do not even want to think ethically or

that they just have a greedy streak that runs through them. Alternatively, there

are those that just have a low ethical intensity. To me this reminds me of an

issue-contingency matter where there is simply a lack of information on ethical

aspects being flowed in their direction. On the other hand, they are simply

ignoring, as if wearing blinders, the high standards that they now need to

implement into their professional life. Ignoring ethical thinking will only hurt

you or your company in the end. If you or someone you know is found to have been

unethical in the past, the way people remember that inadequacy- just because it

was unethical, it?s almost like they are criminals or pure violators. They

seem like violators to their peers simply because the standards and the criteria

of ethics are being upgraded in society. Healthcare professionals exercise

considerable influence and power over the lives of patients, subordinates, and

colleagues- often in routine and subtle ways. Executives can set the schedule

that favors some and not others … double-check procedures or not check them at

all… emphasize harmony in the office or tolerate impersonal squabbles … pass

on training information or forget to do so… greet patients with honor and

respect or hardly acknowledge them … intimidate subordinates or encourage

them. Because such routine actions are a daily part of healthcare delivery, the

ethical dimension of ordinary professional life must be explored. Healthcare

ethics must probe the ethical significance of seemingly inconsequential

situations and help healthcare professionals use their power responsibly within

the contexts of their daily tasks. (5) The abuse of power is just as prevalent

in healthcare organizations as mush as in other types of organizations. Patients

and their families are exceptionally vulnerable in a time of crisis. They are

apprehensive, sometimes frightened, and often intimidated by the

organization?s sheer physical size and bureaucratic complexity. Similar

problems can occur when managers who have significant authority do not use it

for the good of the organization and those it serves. Employees under their

supervision can be compromised by their misuse of power, adversely affecting

both morale and productivity. Like patients and their families, employees may

feel helpless and hesitant to object to such behavior. Examples of abuse of

power include rudeness, profane language, promise breaking, deception,

dishonesty, and sexual harassment. Less obvious forms of abuse of power tend to

be subtle and therefore more insidious; these include arrogance, use of overly

confusing jargon, and withholding of information. (3) Management and medical

staff sometimes rationalize this sort of unprofessional conduct because they

view it as unintentional and non-malicious. However, in addition to compromising

its immediate victims, tolerating such behavior has several negative long- term

consequences, such as encouraging the individual to continue this conduct,

silently condoning the behavior and suggesting to others that they can behave in

a similar manner with impunity demoralizing those who become aware of the

organizations? tolerance, and adversely affecting the image and reputation of

the organization. Power. The actual influence, or power, that healthcare

professionals have in their position is an important reality. Because the

actions of a healthcare executive affect other people, they must see clearly the

influence of power that they exercise and monitor the effect it has on patients,

subordinates, and peers. Most of this influence is more subtle and difficult to

recognize than the ?official? power of the position. Control. It is a fact

that mechanisms of control permeate the environment of healthcare-mechanisms

designed to direct the power of healthcare professionals toward values such as

fairness, clinical competence, economic efficiency, and human dignity. Some of

these controls are ?formal? such as codes of conduct, JCAHO standards,

hierarchical supervision, and operational procedures. Others are ?informal?

such as peer pressure, corporate norms, and prevailing attitudes. Awareness of

how these controls affect us in our everyday work is essential to understanding

the ethics of our routine behavior. Values. The third aspect of healthcare

ethics involves questions over conflicting expectations or values. As healthcare

professionals we are expected to use the power we exercise in a way that

supports the fundamental values of the healthcare field, such as patient

wellbeing, economic efficiency, and legality. These expectations or values are

guides to the ethical use of power. Unless we see and understand them clearly,

we are apt to use our power in ways that support some values but undermine

others. For example, scheduling patient in way that that results in long delays

may maximize economic efficiency but minimize respect for patient dignity. These

three key and essential realities of the ethical dimension of healthcare are

depicted in the reality prism. Three sides but one prism. The clarity needed to

enable informed decision making is not achieved if one side of the prism is

cloudy. Also, notice that the three sides interact with each other.