Ethics In Healthcare/HCM 410- Senior in college - Essay Example

Ethics In Healthcare This paper encompasses an examination of ethics in the healthcare industry. Included is a discussion of his key principles of healthcare law, an analysis of ethical and legal issues within the healthcare industry and a description of generic skills in ethical and legal reasoning. The relationship between healthcare laws and ethic is also included.
Analyze ethical and legal issues within the healthcare industry.
Describe the generic skills in ethical and legal reasoning.
Explain the relationship between healthcare laws and ethics.
In regard to law it is important to take into consideration that law is law not an exact science. The primary reason for this is that law is open to interpretation. The law can be thought of as the body of rules and principles governing the affairs of a community and enforced by a political authority. (Ulrich 2004) The implications of law in healthcare have the same premise but are governed by the health community. When law is coupled with ethics the issues become more complicated. Ethics can be though of as a set of principles set forth by an ethical system, in this case the healthcare industry. Given that the law is open to interpretation and ethics are principles there are scenarios in the healthcare field that are open to decision on behalf of the healthcare professional. (AKH Consultants 2005)
With this being the case Ethical dilemmas frequently arise as healthcare providers strive to consistently care for and treat their diverse clientele. Different approaches to ethical concerns come from the perspective of virtue ethics, normative ethics, personal ethics and/or professional ethics. (The Internet Journal of Healthcare and Ethics 2005) The field of healthcare is confronted with issues of ethical relevance daily. These issues include stem cell research, assisted suicide and transplants. An analysis of these issues reveals that all of the issues take into consideration both the welfare of the patient tics and the law. When combining the three many times a common decision is not reached by all of the parties involved.
Generic skills are necessary when reasoning in both an ethical and a legal sense. Ethical principles take the form of statements of obligation. Thus they always contain the word "should" or some equivalent of it. For example, "One should . . .” is a customary formulation. Concepts are not principles. Thus, "personal dignity" is a concept rather than a principle. "One should respect the personal dignity of patients" would be the statement of a principle. The function of principles in moral discourse is to promote a particular value or feature of a person or thing and, thereby, promote its well-being and allow it to flourish.” (Ulrich 2004)
Emergency Scenario:
The answer to the rescue scenario is based upon duty-oriented reasoning. This type of rezoning dictates that when we reason about morality, about which actions are right and which are wrong, we use diverse standards of the good and methods of reasoning. In this situation I would attempt to rescue the scoutmaster in a manner that would enable me to get to the boys. Ethically as a healthcare provider it is my duty to rescue everyone or attempt to do so. If the scoutmaster perishes the greatest good will is done by rescuing all of the boys. It is the greater good.
The decision can be justified using consequence oriented reasoning. If this were the scenario the consequences of letting all of the young lives perish would justify letting the scoutmaster perish. The consequences of letting the children die would be greater than letting a grown man die, especially if an attempt was made to save the scoutmaster.
The decision can be justified using virtue ethics as well. virtue ethics reasoning A form of ethical theory that makes the concept of virtue and virtuous action its primary or fundamental concepts. While most prevailing ethical theories make either the principle of the good or the principle of the right fundamental, virtue ethics gives these principles only a derivative status. (Ulrich 2005) This would explain the decision to save the group as opposed to the individual. However all of the types of reasoning are open to interpretation just as the law is. They are decisions that must be made in a short amount of time and must encompass both the law and the ethics that govern healthcare. Unfortunately in some scenarios, such as the scoutmaster, the decision that you are able to live with is the best.


References
AKH Consultants (2003) “Ethics for Healthcare Professionals” As viewed on the worldwide web at URL http://www.cecity.com/akh/ethics/disclaim.htm
The Internet Journal of Law, Healthcare and Ethics (2005) “Ethics in Healthcare” As viewed on the Worldwide web at URL http://www.centipedia.com/articles/Medicine
Ulrich, Lawrence P. (2004) “Ethical Principles in Principles in Healthcare Ethics” As viewed on the Worldwide web at URL http://academic.udayton.edu/lawrenceulrich/315prinsme.htm Read More