Student 1 Ethics in Medicine

Title head: ETHICS IN MEDICINE Student:Institution:Date:There are several fundamental principles which are applied in the medical field. All medical students need to learn the principle of non-maleficence so as to acquire the skills that are needed for complex situations. It entails the virtue of doing no harm to anyone. If a physician or a medical practitioner is confronted with a complex or a delicate situation in which their action risk complicating the situation even more, the best option would be doing nothing than to risk doing something that will only worsen the situation.Acting to benefit other people is the moral ethic advanced by the principle of beneficence. In view of this principle, everyone in the medical fraternity has an obligation to show acts of mercy and an endeavour to do much more than they should. This is a virtue that is the guiding force to medical practitioners towards acting in goodwill with love and generosity. They are obliged to extend to others this virtue of goodwill.All medical practitioners are bound by the principle of justice while in their duty of saving lives. They need to ensure that the resources that are available are distributed in a manner that is fair to all regardless of their status in society. Distribution of resources that is discriminatory smacks of unethical medical practices and any medical practitioner should endeavor to stay above this unprofessional act.Autonomy is an important medical ethic and should be practiced in the field of medicine. Before a medical practitioner implements a plan for medical care, the patient has to be willing to accept the treatment that is proposed so long as the patient is cognitively capable to do so. Physicians have the moral obligation to respect the liberty of others. Physicians should also respect the people?s choice. In any given society people need to be left to rule themselves and make their own decisions.The principle for justice in health care.Justice as a bioethics principle is an important medical ethic that guides all health care providers anywhere in the world. It acts as a regulator so that everyone gets fairness in terms of medical care. The principle of justice must be taken into account as it is very applicable when it comes to clinical cases (Berglund, Mitchell & Cox, 1993). This is despite the fact that it is a bit difficult to strictly follow absolute principles or rules in the field of heath care. This is occasioned by the fact the fact that many variables exist in clinical cases as a context and several principles appear to be applicable in most of the cases in this field and others are in conflict.This principle of justice in health care serves as a powerful action guide. It is a moral principle that that is generally accepted and is applicable in the analysis of morals concerning the issues of ethics in medicine. It is good medical ethic practice to apply the principle of justice. It guides medical practitioners to dispense medical benefits in a fair manner as this ensures that patients who have similar needs are treated with fairness (Berglund, Mitchell & Cox, 1993).A reasonable degree of fairness ought to be exercised in health care so that all can benefit from medical services. In following medical ethics, the physician ought to give to each patient what they deserve without considering their financial or social status. All goods that the society has should be distributed in a fair manner because the society has an entitlement to the goods. Distributive justice obliges the providers of health care to exercise fairness in allocating goods that are scarce. As these goods are not enough, the need for them must first be determined. People should be treated equally while health care practitioners are applying medicare. Age is the only factor that health care practitioners should consider in equality.Non-maleficence negligence and liability.Professionals in the field of medical health care are bound by certain ethical practices that dictate the standards of the profession. Non-maleficence is among the four most important principles that all medical practitioners are obliged to follow. However, this principle comes with negligence and liability which are sometimes necessary depending on the prevailing circumstances.Non-maleficence is the key principle of medical profession. Professionals in this field have an obligation to adhere to certain standards that guide them in terms of medical ethics. The profession of medical care has a tradition which is characterized by utilitarian approaches. This is clearly defined in the principle of non-maleficence which obliges heath care practitioners to accomplish the greatest good through any action they do in medical care. They are obliged to do no harm to others for example through killing, theft or disablement.Undermedication is one serious form of non-maleficence negligence. For example a patient may be given an underdose with an aim to treat pain while the health care professional does not know. This results to non-maleficence negligence from the point of view of medical ethics (Gillon, 1994). This has basis in the consideration that the patient stand to benefit or gain nothing from the medication he gets yet the health care practitioner genuinely believes he has done enough to alleviate the patient?s pain and continues to administer the same medicine yet it has no effect on the patients health condition. This is a classical case of non-maleficence negligence whereby a doctor?s action in good faith turns out to be a liability. Non-maleficence negligence happens mostly due to medical or health care providers? lack of adequate knowledge or ignorance. The same case also applies to overdose. Wrong diagnosis and faulty equipment also contributes to this.Health care providers are responsible for non-maleficence negligence and are liable for prosecution in a court of law. The decision to find the practitioner guilty or not guilty of medical negligence or in other words malpractice depends on the circumstances under which the practitioner did so.Ambulance service code of conduct of NSWA well spelt out code of conduct is very crucial to the operations of any organization because it serves as the guide to the behavior and and relationship of the workers with each other as well as with their clients and the general society. This helps a lot in instilling good manners and behaviour in the workforce and leads to the realization of the organization?s objectives.The Ambulance service code of conduct of NSW is well structured and spells put the rules that should be adhered to by all workers of this ambulance service at all times. The rules contained in the code of conduct are comprehensive and very applicable in this field of handling emergency cases by health care practitioners and other workers in general. The code of conduct makes it clear that all concerned get know what they are supposed to do and what not to do in their line of duty. The code does not leave anything to chance as it guides the staff of the ambulance service starting from the areas of personal and professional behaviour to the professional standards expected of them.The NSW code of conduct also gives the health care providers who are working or may be interested in working with the ambulances of NSW adequate and comprehensive information on the requirements for the code of conduct regarding relations of any kind with clients or patients and offers to give the boundaries for these relationships and engagements, for example where to indulge and where not to. The service they expect and how the workers are supposed to exhibit it is described as excellent and that their action should be in good faith.This code of conduct of NSW makes sure that the workers act in an ethical manner and this ensures that a good working relationship exists among the workers themselves and the senior management. In this case there is a clear chain of command and response is quick. An ambulance service provider must work very hard on making sure that any delay in response to an emergency is eliminated so as to ensure that their mission of providing timely services to all is accomplished. This is only possible through a well disciplined workforce and the NSW is well prepared for this through the work ethics instilled in the workers by the code of conduct.This comprehensive code of conduct is necessitated by the fact that the people involved in this service operate in an environment that is extremely complex and therefore there needs to be a regulator to ensure that the temptations these workers meet while on duty do not ensnare them. Any duty that entails constant contact with the public is bound to be accompanied by many temptations and as a result the workers may start engaging in practices that affect the quality of service that they offer to the public as well as damage to the reputation of the organization. The ambulance service has an effective code of conduct to put in check such malpractices as workers may be tempted to engage in. Such unethical behaviour as corruption, sexual relationships with clients and negligence of duty which do not potent well for the successful delivery of service to the community by the ambulance service (Beauchamp & Childress, 1994). They also seriously damage the image of the organization. It is good to preserve the image of the organization as this is the basis of operation for the organization whose existence and survival depends on the society which forms the organization?s client base.Concerning the ambulance workers? employment, the code of conduct expressly spells out the guidelines with a view to ensuring that each worker is aware of what is expected of them. This is the most effective way of ensuring good morals and ethics in any place of work. It works wonders in creating a responsible, responsive and a cooperative organization which is the best way to ensure that an organization successfully accomplishes its objectives and mission.REFERENCESBeauchamp, T & Childress, J (1994). Principles of Biomedical Ethics: New York:Oxford University Press.Berglund, C, Mitchell, K & Cox, K, (1993). Exploring Clinical Ethic s, distance-education module in a Masters of Clinical Education course, University of New SouthWales, Sydney.Gillon, (1994). Principles of Health Care Ethics: John Wiley & Sons,Chichester.Pellegrino, E. D, (1989). ?Character, Virtue and Self-interest in the Ethics of theProfessions?,Journal ofContemporary Health Law and Policy,vol. 5.Category: Best Essay Writing Services-UK

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