Organizational Ethics Presentation
Introduction
Ethical and unethical behaviors occur in organizations on a daily basis. Both employers and employees can exhibit unethical behavior, which can directly impact the company’s public image and reputation. It is imperative to understand the environment where one works to avoid instances of unethical behaviors, which are generally unacceptable (Butts 2012). Unethical behaviors inhibit the poor quality of patient outcomes in clinical settings, lack of confidence in the nursing profession, financial impropriety, high rate of hospital-acquired infections, and loss of lives, among others. There are several behaviors that can be considered unethical, including lying, failing to report unethical behaviors, abusing sick days, compromising the quality of services, and shortchanging customers, among others (Butts 2012). This presentation will discuss unethical behaviors in a clinical setting, with a focus on unethical behaviors among nurses and other medical practitioners.
Ethical situation
In the line of providing nursing care, nurses can be faced with ethical dilemmas that require them to act professionally and ethically to solve. One day a patient arrived in the hospital facility with his wife. The patient complained of abdominal pains, diarrhea, and lack of appetite and loss of weight. The patient had been admitted previously, but the symptoms persisted. As a nurse professional, it was my responsibility to recommend several tests to ascertain the exact disease from which the patient was suffering. Given that the patient’s symptoms had persisted from the previous treatment, I recommended that the patient undergoes an ELISA test to determine if the patient had antibodies related to some infections.
From the test result, it found out that the patient was HIV-positive. As a competent nurse, I opted to disclose the information to the patient first so that he could decide whether to inform the wife or not. However, my colleague at work called the wife and openly informed her that her husband was suffering from HIV/AIDS. When the patient was informed of his condition, he strongly advised us not to inform the wife about it until he is well enough to disclose the information to her.
Ethical concern from the situation
Medical practitioners, including nurses, are charged with the cardinal responsibility of promoting health through medical examinations, treatment, management of diseases, and creating awareness about diseases and healthcare issues. The importance of these roles in the overall health of communities cannot be underestimated (Greaney & O’Mathúna 2017). There is a need to observe high standards of ethical practices in discharging their duties because they encompass human health. However, some medical practitioners have shown a lack of commitments to deliver quality services based on the recommended ethical practices. Unethical behaviors among nurses can lead to loss of lives, escalated disease transmission, and high rates of hospital-acquired infections. Nursing a medical profession has a history of self-regulations guided by the nurses enduring commitment to provide quality healthcare services. In this regard, it was my professional obligation to report any incompetence or unethical behaviors that can compromise the life or health of patients (Greaney & O’Mathúna 2017). In this lack of understanding of the basic nursing roles, lack of commitment to the patient, display of unethical practices, and inability to complete nursing tasks and unethical practices should be reported to the immediate nurse supervisors for proper and relevant assignments.
Failure to report any forms of incompetence or lack of knowledge in nursing practice is unethical because it compromises the quality of patient outcomes, which is the key objective of nursing. Moreover, incompetence can also increase the chances of nurse contracting diseases within the clinical setting, particularly communicable diseases such as COVID-19. It is the role of nurses to show care and love for their fellow nurses by reporting incompetence to allow the affected nurses to make the right decision to prevent further medical complications.
Patients’ right to autonomy is an important ethical consideration in nursing. It is the role of a nurse to ensure that the patient’s personal space is observed and that they respect the wishes of the patient, as long as it does not compromise the patient’s health (Greaney & O’Mathúna 2017). However, some nurses may be faced with complex ethical dilemmas that require them to think critically and make informed decisions. Regardless of the situations that nurses undergo daily, it is important to respect the patient’s choices with regard to medical care. While some of the decisions that patients make may go against nursing professionalism, studies have shown that a patient’s autonomy is a fundamental right (Greaney & O’Mathúna 2017). Accordingly, the nurse violated the personal space of the patients and acted in violation of the nursing ethical principles of privacy, confidentiality, and the right to make choices.
How a nurse would lessen the impact of the situation
From the situation above, it would be of great importance to refer the couple to a psychological counselor who understands how to talk to such patients from a professional perspective. Failure to inform the wife that the infection would expose her to the virus while violating the patient’s right to autonomy would also lead to unethical practice (Parkin & Swift 2017). A professional nursing counselor would help the couple by focusing on the immediate medical needs, the patient’s feelings, and the importance of others in supporting and coping with his health condition. More often, patients fail to make the right choices due to a lack of relevant health information. In this regard, the counselor would act as the guardian to the couple with regard to the available healthcare services, preventive measures for the wife, and positive living for the patient.
References
Butts, J. B. (2012). Ethics in organizations and leadership. Nursing Ethics: Across the Curriculum and into practice, 3rd Edition, Jones and Bartlett, Boston.
Greaney, A. M., & O’Mathúna, D. P. (2017). Patient autonomy in nursing and healthcare contexts. Key Concepts and Issues in Nursing Ethics (pp. 83-99). Springer, Cham.
Parkin, S. R., & Swift, J. K. (2017). Utilizing Patient Hope and Outcome Expectations to Facilitate Treatment Gains. Medical Research Archives, 5(6).