Free research paper about ethical analysis

Introduction

Ethical issues are very important for any organization to run successfully and gain the trust of its employees and clients. The healthcare section is one of the major areas where social and cultural ethical issues need to be taken seriously. Leaders in the healthcare section are the most victims of the ethical issues, and they challenges they face fall under dressing code, and nonverbal communications. Other areas where they face problems include the diverse beliefs of their employees, culture, location issues and Health informatics and health information. In the article, Ethical Challenges and Responsibility of Leaders, written by Squazzo shows the challenges healthcare leaders face.

Dressing Code

People working in a medical institution should adopt a conservative style of dressing. Dressing code in a medical institution is concerned with professionalism and safety of the staff members. It is because employees handle expensive and complex material in their line of work. Dressing code is extremely significant because employees are exposed to patients hence get blood and chemical spills on their clothes (Squazzo, 2012). Some states require medical officers to wear badges at all times for identification. Men are required to wear tailored slacks and dress shirts while women should wear dress skirts that are slightly above the knee. Females are required to wear conservative blouses. Men and women are not allowed to wear clothes that expose their body.
Squazzo shows how medical officers are not allowed to wear open shoes for safety reasons. Open shoes expose an individual to danger, especially if working around electronic equipment. Chemical compounds can burn and irritate the skin of a person. It is recommended that women should wear low-heeled shoes for comfort since they spend most of the time walking and standing (McConnell, 2007). Medical staffs are not encouraged to wear accessories such as earrings because they can catch on a patient.

Nonverbal Communication

Squazzo (2012) also shows how Nonverbal communications play a crucial role between the doctor and the patient. Employees should check their pace of conversation because some cultures find it comfortable with long periods while others are comfortable with a fast conversation (Miller, 2009). Others find it to be disrespectful to speak before the other person has finished talking. It is appropriate for employees, give patients a choice on physical proximity. It can be done by asking the patient to sit where he feels comfortable. There are cultures that prefer an arm’s length distance while other cultures prefer proximity.
It is convenient to have eye contact while talking to a patient, even though some communities find it to be rude (Squazzo, 2012). Muslim community considers eye contact between men and women as disrespectful. Medical staff must observe patients when talking and listening to get signals on appropriate eye contact. The behavior of any medical staff affects the outcomes of the patient. For instance, patients get satisfaction or dissatisfaction by observing non-verbal signs of staff.

Diverse Beliefs

It is essential for medical employees to respect the beliefs and values of their colleagues. It is crucial because it establishes an effective working relationship. Medical staff can undermine the trust of a colleague if they do not take his beliefs seriously. A person with non-mainstream cultural beliefs might find it difficult working in a health institution, even though he is proficient at his work. It is convenient for medical personnel to share their beliefs to understand each other. It avoids conflicts at workplaces because medical personnel respect and understands each other’s beliefs. It is unprofessional to segregate a colleague because of her beliefs and culture. It might seriously affect a person’s work because he does not concentrate (Squazzo, 2012). For instance, it is unfair to judge a Muslim employee as a terrorist because terrorism is associated with the Islamic religion. It affects an individual work because of the label given to him. Medical staff should discuss their cultures freely and try to understand each other. It establishes an excellent working environment between the medical staff.
Issues that affect health care information are many. As people look at health care globally, it is important to pay more attention to the access and utilization of information on health. It is a priority for people suffering from chronic illness to access health information and receive good health care attention. Heath information gives people the importance of having health insurance, and it provides people with information about the setting of health care. With the emergency medical services come great responsibilities. The patient has the right to accept or refuse the assistance of the emergency medical services. It is applicable when the patient can make decisions and is of legal age (18 years). In order for the emergency medical service personnel know that a patient has decision-making ability, the patient must be conscious, sober and alert. When the emergency medical service personnel treat the patient against the patient will, he or she may have legal consequences to deal.

Culture

Cultural beliefs can influence health information in various ways. Cultures will determine whether people will seek medical attention after they suffer from illness or injuries. It is difficult to have medical providers of the same cultures or language of a particular community. It usually hinders how health information will be disseminated to various people. For instance, it is difficult for the Latinos in USA to have health providers of their language and culture. Cultural beliefs also affect how health information is supposed to be handled. Asian and Indian cultures believe that the use of modern equipment and technology is a violation of their traditional beliefs. They believe that it conflicts with the source of illness and problems of health. People who believe in these cultures are not interested in health information that is provided by medical professionals as they prefer to seek medical attention from traditional healers.
Squazzo (2012) shows how location is also a major influence of health information in terms of accessibility by medical professionals and patients. People who reside in a city can access health information easily as opposed to people who reside in rural places. It is because rural areas have many financial problems and resources are scarce (Iyer & Appelbaum, 2003). It is because of this that rural people are unable to receive quality health information; thus, they are unable to access to quality health care. Many rural areas have limited hospital facilities, and medical specialists are few.

Finances

In the article, funds are a major influence of dissemination of health information. Poor people are unable to receive high standard health care because of inadequate facilities for processing health information. Hospitals with limited funds are unable to receive current health information because they do not have sufficient funds to carry out research. Only people covered with health insurance receive quality health information because they can access it easily.

Health informatics and health information

In the article, there are areas that are the same in heath informatics and information, but the difference between the two disciplines should be outlined properly. Health information is a discipline that designs, structures and uses scientific technology in upgrading medical factors. On the other hand, health information is a discipline that is mainly concerned with collection, storage, and dissemination of medical knowledge in case of health care. Heath informatics uses IT for the purposes of coming up with new knowledge and the management of this knowledge. This discipline is well known for designing patient’s data management system in connection to health. Health information collects and stores patient information as well as keeping medical records. It also deals with individual’s health care management and information resources. Health informatics is involved with collective information of all patients as it uses IT in the development of designs to handle patient information. Even though these two disciplines are different in some way, they both deal with patient information and use of technology in handling this information.

Conclusion

In the field of medicine, patients can have many causes of their ailments. As a doctor, one should have the necessary skills to investigate and find the cause of these ailments. In many cases, the ailment may have explainable causes like exposure to unhealthy living conditions or the consumption of unhealthy substances. There are a few cases where after investigating the attending doctor may conclude that the need to call the law enforcing agencies is essential. The scenario then becomes a medico-legal case. In simple terms, medico-legal cases are legal cases that need the intervention of a medical practitioner. In today’s society, everyone needs good medical services. It has not only become a want, but a need. In order to fulfill the need, medical service providers, hospitals, have come up with the Emergency Medical Services. This service helps in, the first aiding patients far from the hospitals and transporting them to the hospital. Emergency medical services have proven to save many lives. It is because the emergency medical services either treat the ailing patient on the spot or transports the patient to the nearest hospital.

References

Squazzo, J. D. (2012). Ethical challenges and responsibility of leaders. The fund for Innovation
in healthcare leadership. Retrieved on 22nd December, 2014 from

Iyer, P. W., & Appelbaum, S. (2003). Medical-legal aspects of pain and suffering. Tucson, AZ:
Lawyers & Judges Pub. Co.
McConnell, C. R. (2007). The health care manager’s human resources handbook. Sudbury,
Mass: Jones and Bartlett.
Miller, C. (2009). How Associate Degree Nursing Faculty Use Learning Partnerships to
Promote Self-authorship in Clinical Students. New York. ProQuest.