Ethical Problems of Health Care Workers
Ethical issues usually occur when a decision brings conflict with principles that are governing society’s morals. Both doctors and patients participate in dispute because any of the services might have a problem. This conflict can lead to misunderstanding of individuals and particularly break the law. If no guideline is known to solve the problem, it might take time for the conflict to end (Meier, 1979). This is why many organizations have a department that helps solve and make decisions whenever a problem comes over. In health settings, there might occur some issues between communication between health workers and patience because of exposing confidential information about a patient and the way the health workers approach their patients; that is, they may involve in verbal harassment with patients as discussed in the scenarios below.
One of the scenarios is the sharing of information about a patient. A patient decides to share all the information, even the confidential one to the doctor so that he/she can get help. When the doctor discloses this information to others, the patient might feel oppressed. When the information is shared, the patient loses their privacy since the fact has already be known. A health worker can be fired or suspended because of posting these facts on social media or sharing it with the public. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act laws do not allow this to happen to any social media. For example, when a patient has been involved in several crimes and shares the information with the doctor, he/she can acquire treatment and where the problem has come from. The patient might have been secretive for a long period and decide to share it only with the health worker so the problem can be solved and treated. This can stress the patient and can even cause death as the patient health status will be worse. This may cause the patient to be more secretive as he/ she fears the same action to occur again.
Another scenario is verbal harassment; this occurs when a health worker uses many commanding words to the patient. The health workers need to keep away from bad language to the patient and also in health care. This is very important when treating a patient. A patient can get angry easily as he/ she feels humiliated. The patient can even insult the health worker because of the pain and when they are at fault. As a health worker, it is important not to involve yourself in any abusive words no matter what the patient tells you. For example, when a patient starts to be ignorant of your services, it is important to look the best way to tell him /her the importance of the service you provide to him and how it could help him/her politely and quietly.
Refuting the paradox. This is the relevant authority to take a deep analysis of the issue without any assumptions made (Herkert, 2005). Some existing issues can be logically solved and corrected depending on the problem that came through in the first ethical problem where the health worker displays the worker’s information to the irrelevant parties. This can be solved through the employer doing a survey analysis of why the workers can’t be the documents confidential. The workers can give some excuses such as lack of security drawers for storing files. It can also be carelessness and ignorance of the health worker, in the other scenario, where the health worker is so tough and rude to the patient. The solution here can be done by subjecting the rude worker to learning the benefits of good language to the patient so that you maintain good relations with paper and maintain a good name of the clinic. The employer should dig deeper to know the main cause of poor communication between the two parties. In this problem, the issue cannot be solved logically; it needs some learning and consultancy (Cooper et al., 2004).
The value theory approach. This is done by maximizing the good in the workers and minimize the evils. This is done by finding the issue and finding the best alternative for it. In my scenario here where there is an exposure of the patient details, if the health worker does this intentionally, he/she should be fired to protect the image of the clinic. This can be the best alternative. Another alternative though not the best, the worker can be shifted to a different workplace or change his work (Cooper et al., 2002).
An assessment was done, and the ethical solutions worked since the problem was identified, and the relevant action was taken, which caused a change to the clinic, and the problems didn’t repeat each other. The ethical solutions employed were easily practicable, and it worked.
Healthcare technology is any information technology tool or even software designed to the productivity of a hospital and an administrative. It gives new directions into treatment and medicine issuing and generally improve the provided care, in the scenarios above, the installation of computers in the clinics to store patient’s details more securely and prevent loss. They can also be stored for future references. Another effective technology is putting CCTV in the working areas for the managing staff to monitor their workers and identify those who are neglecting the institution’s laws. Though expensive, it can solve major ethical issues (Shah & Robinson, 2006).
Health workers should form blogs and website pages to discuss the issues that are affecting them. This is also done by forming WhatsApp groups, Instagram page, or even twitter group so that all health workers are given the platform to share the information and make decisions. This technology can help in correcting the health workers who have been involved in any indiscipline case. Utilitarianism should be supported, maximizing the good behavior and minimizing suffering, unlike Kant deontology, which says we have the obligation of taking action that will bring positive outcomes. The health workers should participate in actions that will bring changes to their patients and improve their services.
In conclusion, health workers should maintain good ethical traits. This is by ensuring that they follow the laws of healthcare facilities. For example, confidential information should not be disclosed at any time and maintain a good relationship with their patient and always be humbled.
Reference
Cooper, Robert W., et al. “Key ethical issues encountered in healthcare organizations: perceptions of nurse executives.” JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration 32.6 (2002): 331-337.
Cooper, R. W., Frank, G. L., Hansen, M. M., & Gouty, C. A. (2004). Key ethical issues encountered in healthcare organizations: the perceptions of staff nurses and nurse leaders. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 34(3), 149-156.
Herkert, J. R. (2005). Ways of thinking about and teaching ethical problem solving: Microethics and macro ethics in engineering. Science and Engineering Ethics, 11(3), 373-385.
Meier, P. (1979). Terminating a trial—the ethical problem. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 25(5part2), 633-640.
Shah, S. G. S., & Robinson, I. (2006). User involvement in healthcare technology development and assessment. International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance.