Discussion: Ethical practices in Health Care

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Any healthcare professional must uphold ethical principles. A practical foundation for

determining what kind of behaviors and motives are treasured is provided by ethical principles,

which are universal norms of conduct. Ethics are moral values that direct a person's behavior and

conduct. The decision-making process for evaluating the final effects of those actions is also

included. The focus is on right and wrong actions. Every individual has a unique set of personal

principles and ethics. Healthcare personnel must understand ethical challenges and make wise

verdicts and decisions grounded on their principles while abiding by the rules that regulate them.

For this reason, ethics in the industry are crucial. Like all healthcare professionals, nurses need

regulation and guidance within the industry to practice skillfully and honestly.

All healthcare professionals must uphold high ethical standards. Ethical practice offers a

framework for everyday nurses facing moral conundrums. As nurses deliver care for patients,

ethical problems arise. These problems could occasionally be at odds with the moral principles

of the nurse. While providing patient care, nurses must strike a sense of balance because they are

also the patients' advocates. The four central tenets of ethics are non-maleficence, autonomy,

beneficence, and justice.

All patients have the right to choose based on their values and beliefs. Autonomy is the term for

this. The best care recommendations or guidelines by nurses or other healthcare professionals

may be at odds with patients' need for autonomy. Irrespective of any potential benefits, a person

has the liberty to reject any medications, treatments, surgeries, or other medical procedures. The

nurse must respect the patient's choice if they decide against receiving a treatment that might be

beneficial.

Healthcare professionals are responsible for treating patients with kindness, minimizing damage,

and promoting wellness. This responsibility of specific care describes goodness. By balancing
the patient's rewards and hazards, healthcare professionals show this. Examples of goodwill

include assisting patients with tasks they cannot complete independently, upholding side rails for

fall protection, and promptly dispensing medications.

Everyone has the right to expect fair and equitable treatment from other people. Justice refers to

how individuals are treated when their welfares conflict with those of others. The lack of

healthcare insurance cover for some is a popular subject that touches on this. Additional

illustration involves patients who may not have access to the same medical treatments as those

available in city areas because they live in rural places.

There should be no harm done to patients. Nurses must practice non-maleficence to keep patients

safe. The most complex rule to uphold is probably this one. When patients refuse to take life-

saving medication or when life support is switched off, the nurse is put in an ethically

challenging situation.

Several ethical problems could arise from a centralized healthcare system serving a population

with various cultural backgrounds and healthcare practitioners. Future healthcare system

struggles will often revolve around finding a way to strike a balance between efficiency, quality,

and safety. It begs whether the proper values are driving our healthcare system.

A significant problem in the healthcare system is the equitable distribution of medical resources.

The primary and preventive care centers are disadvantaged because most health resources are

dispersed in favor of the specialized hospitals.

Many hospitals have no explicit guidelines for managing patient data, notably medical records.

The handling of these documents is typically left up to the clinician's judgment. This includes
choices on disclosing any patient information without the patient's lawful consent. Contrary to

patient rights, little effort is being made to create information security policies.

The patient agreement is required, or the data must be anonymous before sharing it for

secondary purposes like population health projects. Even anonymous records, though, can

be abused. De-anonymization, also called data re-identification, is the process by which

anonymous data can be matched to an individual by comparing it to publicly available data.

Suppose population health information is utilized for objectives other than promoting

health. In that case, whether accorded to a person or applied in aggregate to a population, it

could have a detrimental effect on the people who provided the data.

The Code of Ethics for nurses should be familiar to them and be conscious of their morality and

integrity. Nurses should know the critical ethical standards on a fundamental and explicit level.

While promoting patients' rights to self-identify needs and cultural customs, the profession must

remain faithful to patient care. Despite being challenging, ethical issues in nursing truly integrate

the art of patient care, which forms a basis for creating atmospheric working conditions and good

interpersonal relationships between the parties involved.

Maintaining the highest ethical standards is a duty nurses have to their profession, themselves,

and their patients. Many institutions and organizations have established ethics boards to examine

ethical issues affecting the bodies internally and externally. Involvement of nurses at all practice

stages in the intended specialty area's ethics review is recommended. Promoting patient care,

rights, and practice that adheres to ethical standards is critical.

 Reference

Summers, J., & Morrison, E. (2009). Principles of healthcare ethics. Health care ethics. 2nd ed.

Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.