HEALTHCARE ETHICS

are freely chosen, enduring beliefs or attitudes about the worth of a person, object, idea, or action

e.g. freedom, family, honesty, hard work

frequently derive from a person’s cultural, ethnic, and religious background; from societal traditions; and from the values held by peer group and family

form a basic for Behaviour

is based on a person’s decisions/choices, and these decisions/choices are based on the person’s underlying values.

are learned and are greatly influenced by a person’s sociocultural environment

People need_____ to feel accepted

People need______ to produce a sense of individuality.

often reflect and expand on personal values

Nurses acquire these values during socialization into nursing from _,_,_ & _.

Watson (1981) outlined 4 important values of nursing:

are also important, otherwise, they may give emotional responses which often are not helpful.

We should explore our own values and beliefs regarding such situations as the following:

The process of becoming more conscious of and naming what one values or considers worthy is known as

This examines what we believe is good, bad, beautiful, worthy, meaningful, .....and explore
the process of determining our personal values.

This increase our self-awareness or understanding of ourselves and assist us in making choices.

It facilitates decision-making, because we have a better grasp of our own value system.

Consequently, this will be helpful when you are faced with an ethical dilemma

occurs when an individual must choose between two unfavorable alternatives

Ex of Ethical Dilemma

usually have no perfect solution and those making decisions may find themselves in the position of having to defend their decisions

occurs when we must choose between two things, both of which are important to us.

is similar to ethics and many people use the two wards interchangeably (closely associated with the concept of ethics)

Derived from the Latin “mores”, means custom or habit.

Morals is derived from the Latin “mores”, meaning?

usually refers to an individual’s personal standards of what is right and wrong in conduct, character, and attitude.

are based on religious beliefs and social influence and group norms

a branch of philosophy (the study of beliefs and assumptions) referred to as moral philosophy

Derived from the Greek word “ethos” which means customs, habitual usage, conduct and character.

usually refers to the practices, beliefs, and standards of behavior of a particular group such as nurses.

It also refers to the method of inquiry that assists people to understood the morality of human behavior (study of morality)

we describe the behavior we observe as good, right, desirable, honorable, fitting or proper or we might describe the behavior as bad, wrong, improper, irresponsible, or evil.
[Such perceptions are based on?

Differences in values and decisions put people into

Resolving conflicts

Be____ (rather than _____) in the methods you choose to work toward resolving the differences

Principles and rules of right conduct

Private, and personal

Commitment to principles and values is usually defended in daily life

Pertain to an individual‘s character

Formal responding process used to determine right conduct

Professionally and publicly stated

Inquiry or study of principles and values

Process of questioning, and perhaps changing, one’s morals

Speaks to relationships between human beings

complex process that is not fully understood

It is the process of learning what ought to be done and what ought not to be done

Different approaches to moral development exist:

When the nurses are unable to follow their moral beliefs because of institutional or other restriction.

represents practical, rather than ethical dilemmas.

Occurs when someone else in the health care setting performs an act the nurse believes to be immoral.
- Nurses do not participate in the act.
- Nurses not responsible for wrong but perceive that they are powerless to prevent.

Directly affected by Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

•Focuses on the structure of thought about moral issues rather than the specific content of moral values.
• Emphasizes fairness, rights and autonomy in a justice framework

Moral development progresses through three levels:

•Focuses on a care perspective
• Organized around the notions of responsibility, compassion (care), relationships

based of the idea of equality “everyone should receive the same treatment”.

based on a premise of nonviolence: that no one should be harmed or abandoned

Process or stages of developing an “ethics of care”

Each stage in Ethics of Care ends with a ?

a time when the individual recognizes a conflict or discomfort with some present behavior and considers new approaches

Are statements about broad, general philosophic concepts such as autonomy and justice

They provide the foundation for moral values, which are specific prescriptions for actions

Basic ethical concepts

form the basis of most professional codes and legal judgments

•Involves the right of self-determination, independence, and freedom.
• It refers to the right to make one’s own decisions

means that nurses recognize the individual’s uniqueness, the right to be what that person is, and the right to choose personal goals

also means treating others with consideration

In the clinical setting, this principle is violated when a nurse disregards client's subjective accounts of their symptoms

means “doing good”

in an increasing technologic health care system, doing good can also pose a risk of____

means the duty to do no harm.

This is the basic of most codes of nursing ethics.

Harm that is always unacceptable.

Harm that is not always clear

Is often referred to as fairness

Nurses frequently face decisions in which a sense of____ should prevail

Means to be faithful to agreements and responsibilities one has undertaken

Refers to telling the truth