Hcs 335 - Ethic Paper

Ethics Paper

Keneedra Dottin

HCS/335

12/04/2017

Ethics Paper

As a healthcare professional you will run into many different problems and situations. During this first week of class we discussed a couple of situations which made me think even harder about making decisions. Making decisions is one of our main responsibilities as humans. When making decisions you should always consider going through multiple thinking processes so that you may have a better outcome. Every decision is always considered ethical or unethical. Making the right decision that results in a good outcome would be considered an ethical decision, while and unethical decision would be the total opposite.

Making ethical decisions

Someone who works in the public such as a nurse or a cashier will always face different situations. Since you deal with many different people and personalities you will always have to think about the decisions and choices you make. For an example I work in a hospital as a dietary aide. As a dietary you will be interacting with nurses, visitors, and patients which can be very difficult at times. On many days I run into complications with patients which puts me in a position where I have to think more about the outcome than the problem itself. which is why I choose the most ethical and logical decision.

While on a job you should always make ethical decisions to make sure that it doesn’t result in you losing your job or affecting your professional image. Once while I was at work a patient fussed at me because of the meal they received. Even though it wasn’t my fault, and many other people may have continued to fuss and argue with the patient because of the disrespectful things he said I choose to keep my professional image by not fussing with the patient and making the most ethical decision. After the patient fussed I explain to him in a very respectful manner that it wasn’t my fault and I’m very sorry for the inconvenience and went to get the patient the food that he wanted. Which was the most ethical decision I could have made in this situation.

In most situations people like myself will always think about what the consequences will be after the problem. Many times, you will ask yourself “what will happen if I do this” which always leads you to making the right decision. This type of theory would be called the Utilitarianism theory. Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that determines right from wrong by focusing on the outcomes of a situation, meaning whichever decision you make will be based on the consequences of that problem or situation. Utilitarianism is also an ethical theory that focuses on the greatest good for the greatest number of people. For an example there are three treatments available but there are four patients who could use it. One of the four patients are very sick and is suffering from a serious illness which only gives him or her a certain amount of time to live but could still use the treatment while the other three patients only need that specific treatment to become well. The three patients that only needs the specific treatment would receive the treatment first because they would benefit from it more than the patient with the limited time to live. Overall you would be saving three people and would only be losing one which is an example of greatest good for the greatest number of people.