Professional Code of Ethics

University:
Arizona State University
Course:
HCR 210 | Clinical Health Care Ethics
Academic year:

2021
Views:

447

Pages:

26
Author:

SBaker

HCR 210 Ethics for the Healthcare Professional Learning Objectives: • Understand professional relationships, issues of leadership, work-place bullying, and issues of discrimination • Understand basic legal terminology in relationship to health care • Understand the relationship between legal considerations and ethical decision making • Apply the professional code of ethics pertinent to a chosen health care profession Workplace Ethics Workplace Ethics There are a lot of people involved in the healthcare system ...which also means that there is a lot of potential for conflicts. Workplace Ethics As healthcare workers, you have to deal with multiple different obligations • You have a contract with your patients to give them the best possible care • You may feel a sense of loyalty towards your colleagues • You may feel a sense of loyalty towards for employer or hospital groups Sometimes, these obligations can conflict with each other. Workplace Ethics “Nurses eat their young.” Workplace Ethics Workplace Ethics Workplace Ethics Horizontal/lateral violence Vertical violence Workplace Bullying/Violence Types of workplace bullying/violence: • Vertical Bullying • Horizontal Bullying • Discrimination • Assault • Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress • Harassment Ethical considerations: • What does workplace bullying do to a person’s sense of spirituality? • What ethical principles and theories does it violate? • Does this ultimately lead to patient harm? Sexual Harassment Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination • As many as 76% of nurses and nursing students have been affected by sexual harassment. • Prohibited by Civil Rights Act of 1991 o Quid pro quo sexual harassment o Hostile work environment sexual harassment • Sexual harassment and sex discrimination can happen to both men and women Violence Against Healthcare Workers Violence and abuse can also occur from patients and patients’ family members Assault Against Healthcare Workers Assault Against Healthcare Workers *Warning for dramatic reenactments of violent acts. Assault Against Healthcare Workers “During residency I was choked by a patient. That didn’t stop me from my residency,” Vinocur said. “It was somebody impaired, and it was a busy intercity hospital and he came in as an overdose. Normally you put on some light restraints when you’re reversing them with Narcan. He kind of popped up, didn’t have restraints. I was closest to him and he starts screaming that we ruined his ‘high’ and grabbed me by the throat. I don’t think he was [cognizant] because he was still groggy. He ended up ripping my necklace off. [Luckily] we had security and I could feel him loosening, but I had scratch marks and little broken blood vessels in my eyes. That was the last time I wore jewelry to work because it cut into my throat too.” Assault Against Healthcare Workers Why may healthcare workers under-report? • Culture of acceptance (“it’s just part of the job”) • Sense of duty to protect patients may conflict with sense of duty to protect themselves • Fear of stigmatizing mental health Professional Code of Ethics Professional Code of Ethics Professional Codes of Ethics are NOT legally binding Purpose: • Identifies the ethical obligations and duties of the profession • Identifies the profession’s ethical standard • Expresses the profession’s commitment to society • Provides a framework for the profession to use in ethical analysis and decision-making and establishes the ethical standards Professional Code of Ethics Key Concepts from the Nursing Professional Code of Ethics • Compassion & respect for dignity, worth, and uniqueness for every individual • Commitment to patient (individual, family, group, community) • Advocate for health, safety, rights of patient • Responsibility & accountability for individual nursing practice • Integrity, competence, personal/professional growth Nursing Code of Ethics Provision #1-3 Fundamental values and commitments of the nurse Provision #4-6 Boundaries of duty and loyalty Provisions #7-9 Duties beyond the patient encounters Nursing Code of Ethics Ethical Dilemmas - Discussion If your supervisor asks you to take care of more patients then you are legally or procedurally allowed to care for, what should you do? Proposed Bill (HB 2041) – did not pass in AZ Ethical Dilemmas - Discussion If a nurse suspects a colleague is under the influence, is that nurse responsible for the colleague’s safety of practice? Why or why not? Ethical Dilemmas – Case Study Billy is a new nurse who just recently started working in a longterm care facility (LTC). One of Billy’s patients has hemiparesis and needs to be turned every 2 hours. When Billy goes to turn his patient, he notices that the patient has developed a stage 2 pressure ulcer on his buttocks. Billy suspects that his colleagues have not been diligent about repositioning this patient. The patient’s wife asks Billy what the “rash” on patient is. Billy wants to answer the wife truthfully, however he is nervous that the wife will get upset and blame the LTC facility, that he may get his colleagues in trouble, and that he may get fired from his job. What should Billy do? Assignment No assignments due this week, however content will appear on next quiz and final exam. Questions?