Appearance May Not Be Reality - Research Paper Example

Ethical and Legal Issues Ethical and Legal Issues Ethical issues are a normal occurrence in the hospital setting and General hospital case is an example. Ethical and legal issues One of the ethical issues in the General hospital’s case is faulty reporting. Fabricating data is equivalent to deceiving the consumers of that data. Decisions that are made based on such data are flawed. Faulty reporting contravenes the ethical principle of dignity and respect for autonomy. It defies the principle of dignity because it is disrespectful to lie.

Respect for autonomy is violated by not providing consumers with accurate information that aids in their decision-making. It was unethical for the staff of General hospital not to put the patient’s best interest at heart as required of it by the principle of beneficence. It is illegal to report data falsely. General hospital would be liable if patients such as, the Jones family, sustained infection after seeking treatment from the hospital (Pozgar, 2013). ACHE Code of ethics appropriate to the General hospital caseSeveral elements of the ACHE code of ethics would help an administrator of General hospital in determining the right course of action to take.

One of those elements is the one that encourages healthcare management to disclose conflicts of interest. Another element appropriate to this case is one that admonishes healthcare executives to desist from taking part in activities that are demeaning to the credibility and dignity of the profession of the management of healthcare. The administrator can invoke the element of the ACHE code of ethics that calls for them to ensure patients are informed about opportunities, responsibilities and risks involved in certain healthcare services.

A General hospital administrator should also implore the guidance of the ACHE code of ethics that would help resolve any conflict that would emerge between patients and the organization’s personnel. Additionally, it would be appropriate to refer to the ACHE code of ethics that promotes the need to have evidence-based clinical practices in a healthcare organization. The administrator’s course of action should be guided by the element that promotes the use of sound business practices. It is advisable for the administrator to follow the element on truthful dissemination of information (ACHE, 2014).

Course of action as General hospital’s ethics committee member Members of General Hospital’s ethics committee should push an assessment of hospital staff awareness and attitudes towards bioethics. These members should convene departmental meetings to discuss the issue of faulty reporting. Ethics committee members should liaise with nursing managers in working a way out of the problem created by the issue. They need to reach out to ethics committees of other healthcare organizations and learn how they promote ethics in their workplaces.

They have a duty to maintain a bulletin that can disseminate information on ethics and ethical issues. They are required to reach out to an organization’s customers in order to let them know how to go about reporting ethical issues. Ethics committee should ensure that conflicts that arise between hospital workers are settled ethically (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2007). In conclusion, the General hospital case defies bioethics. Many elements of the ACHE code of ethics can help administrators solve the case.

Ethics committee members can help create awareness among hospital staff on how to avoid similar ethical issues. ReferenceACHE. (2014). ACHE Code of Ethics. Retrieved November 6, 2014 from http://www.ache.org/abt_ache/code.cfmBuchbinder, S. & Shanks, N. (2007). Introduction to Health Care Management. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Pozgar, G.D. (2013). Legal and ethical issues for health professionals. (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning LLC.