Ethical Issues

Ethical Issues

The ideals of Hippocratic Oath do not always come to terms with relevant concerning a patient’s life and death. The Oath itself can be found indifferent versions that may not be a suitable thought. Every part of the ethical system taught in healthcare education can be traced to the oath that doctors take when entering the profession. The Hippocratic Oath includes issues of patient privacy, but ultimately requires that doctors do everything possible to avoid causing harm and to preserve the health of their patients in all ways possible. The system of ethics surrounding healthcare is based entirely on the notion of preserving patient health. Medical ethics is such a complex issue that there are scholars who specialize in nothing besides the study of healthcare ethics. Ethics in this field not only applies to the practice of healthcare, but also to its further development through research and in the development of new fields of study (Pozgar, G. 2012). In addition, most healthcare professionals have specific ethical guidelines set down by their governing organizations which they are both expected and required to follow. Most medical specialties also have their own detailed ethical codes that govern practitioners. Physicians take an oath to protect and help others, and it is important that physicians stick to that oath. There however are exceptions to the rules such as, where serious harm may occur, where a doctor believes a patient to be the victim of abuse and the patient is unable to give or withhold consent to disclose, where a doctor has a patient who is a health professional and has concerns over that person’s fitness to practice and posing a serious danger to patients in his or her care, and where a doctor has concerns over a patient’s fitness to drive to name a few (Green, B. 2012).

Physicians should not be able or allowed to turn anyone away, especially if they don’t have the means