Unit 8 - Ethics Flashcards
Definition of ethics
Ethics is the study or examination of morality through a variety of different approaches.
The scope of ethics
Societal ethics
Organizational ethics
Bioethics/clinical ethics/research ethics
Professional ethics
Personal ethics
Define societal ethics
Ethics that serve the larger community. This includes laws, legal standards, and regulatory parameters.
Define organizational ethics
Formal and informal principles and values that guide the behavior, decisions, and actions taken by members of an organization. Organizational ethics directs all aspects of an organization.
An example includes organizational policies and procedures.
Define bio ethics
Bio ethics deals broadly with ethical questions surrounding the biological sciences, emerging healthcare technologies and health policy.
Define clinical ethics
Clinical ethics includes decision making at the bedside and other patient specific issues
Define research ethics
A specialized field within bio ethics that examines the ethical conduct of research using human subjects and animals.
Define professional ethics
Ethical standards and expectations of a particular profession.
In relation to nursing:
“The relationship between the patient and the nurse is, first and foremost, and ethical one.”
Define personal ethics
Personal ethics describes an individuals own ethical foundation and practice.
Our personal ethics do not perfectly overlap with other categories of ethics. So there’s much potential for conflict. In addition, the sources of our ethics change overtime just as we continue to change with time.
What year was the first code of ethics for nurses adopted?
1950 by the American Nurses Association.
True or false?
The most recent code of ethics for nurses is the “Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements” adopted by the ANA house of delegates in 2015.
True
Compare an ethical problem with an ethical dilemma
And ethical problem is when there is a clear, ethically correct choice.
An ethical dilemma is when there are two or more ethically correct choices and they compete with each other.
List the essential concepts of ethics in nursing.
Fidelity
Justice
Nonmaleficence
Responsibility
Veracity
Autonomy
Accountability
Advocacy
Beneficence
Confidentiality
Define fidelity
The concept of keeping promises or agreements made with others.
Define justice
The concept of acting fairly and equitably.
Define nonmaleficence
The concept of avoiding harm.
DO NO HARM
Define responsibility
The concept of being dependable and reliable.
Define veracity
The concept of being truthful
Define autonomy
The concept of making decisions supported by knowledge and self-confidence.
Define accountability
The concept of being answerable for one’s actions.
Define advocacy
The concept of supporting or promoting the interests of others or of a cause greater than ourselves.
Define beneficence
The concept of “doing good”
Define confidentiality
The concept of limiting the sharing of private patient information.
Compare deontology and utilitarianism
Deontology, or duty based ethics, is an ethical theory that focuses only on the rightness or wrongness of individual behaviors, duties, and obligations without concern for the actual consequence of those actions.
Utilitarianism focuses solely on the consequences and maintains that behaviors are determined to be right or wrong based on their outcome. Unlike the rigidity of deontology, utilitarianism views actions as neither right nor wrong without knowing how they benefit the greater good or society.
Define rights-based ethics
Rights based ethical theory focuses on the rights of the individual and does not always take into consideration the effects on society as a whole.
For example a child may need a life saving blood transfusion, but their religious beliefs of the parents prevents the child from receiving blood products.
Define justice-based ethics
Justice based ethics emphasizes the ethical principle of justice, stating that no individual person should have any advantage over another. Dilemmas arise in situations in which access to healthcare is sometimes dependent on income and other socioeconomic characteristics.
Define virtue-based ethics
Virtue based ethics focuses on personal traits of individuals rather than societal norms. Dilemmas can arise when not everyone has the same virtues; this can result in an organization or person taking advantage of another person.
Define code of ethics
A code of ethics is a formal statement that defines the values, morals, and standards guiding practice in a specific discipline or profession.
True or false?
Healthcare decisions that present an ethical dilemma are not made by individuals alone. The healthcare institutions compliance officer and compliance committee are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that ethical standards are met. Institutions have reporting mechanisms for unethical behaviors.
True
What are the three virtues of health professionals?
Courage
Compassion
Commitment
List three ethical issues in nursing
-Understaffing
-Prolonging the living and dying process with inappropriate measures.
-Providing care with risk to the health of the nurse.
Responsibilities of a nurse educators
To advise and supervise their students, collaborate with students to identify individual learning needs within the clinical setting, and facilitate the educational process.
Responsibilities of student nurses
To behave responsibly and respectfully toward all, be accountable for their actions, develop professionally, and strive to learn all that is necessary to care for patients and their families.
Define civility - in regards to nursing school
Civility, or acting politely, is essential to all interactions among faculty and nursing students. Respectful interaction between students and faculty members establishes professional communication patterns and affects the way in which students interact with patients.
List some reported outcomes of nurse educators and students who have been the victims of incivility.
Loss of sleep.
Increased stress and depression.
Feelings of powerlessness.
Decreased confidence.
Exemplar: confidentiality
The safeguarding of patient information. Sharing patient information with only those that need to know.
True or false? HIPAA stands for health identity problems and accountability act.
False.
HIPAA stands for health insurance portability and accountability act.
True or false? HIPAA was originally passed in 1906?
False.
HIPAA was originally passed in 1996.
Identify key provisions of HIPAA.
Privacy.
Security.
Enforcement.
Breach.
What did Dr. V teach us about social media and confidentialities?
She said, “Don’t post things on social media! Please please please! It’s so not worth it.”
Define privacy as a key provision of HIPAA
The HIPAA privacy rule establishes national standards to protect individuals medical records and other individually identifiable health information. Collectively defined as protected healthcare information. This applies to health plans, health care clearing houses, and those healthcare providers that conduct certain healthcare transactions electronically.
Define security as a key provision for HIPAA
The HIPAA security rule establishes national standards to protect individuals electronic personal health information that is created, received, used, or maintained by a covered entity. The security rule requires appropriate administrative, physical and technical safeguards to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and security of electronic protected health information.
Define enforcement as a key provision of HIPAA
The HIPAA enforcement rule contains provisions relating to compliance and investigations, the imposition of civil money penalties for violations of the Hyppa administrative simplification rules, and procedures for hearings.
Define breaches a key provision of HIPAA
The HIPAA breach notification rule requires HIPAA covered entities in their business associates to provide notification following a breach of unsecured protected health information.
