Introduction
A personalized code of ethics in the healthcare sector outlines practical standards that guide healthcare administrators’ reasoning when encountering moral dilemmas. Each organization has unique rules that each employee must follow to honor the occupation, colleagues, clients, and other people served. Established ethical conduct allows executives to implement consistent, bold, and appropriate management decisions to surpass barriers that could hinder the attainment of an organization’s mission. This Ethics Toolkit outlines essential regulations every medical practitioner must follow to meet their obligation to the community, institution, workmates, and any other person served.
Relationship to Clients
Patient and family-centered approaches yield better results than self-centered care methods. According to the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) (2018), skilled healthcare professionals should offer services adeptly and objectively within their expertise and education. Moreover, the professionals emphasize using transparent and fair practices that align with the evidence-based practices (“NAHQ code of ethics,” 2018). However, healthcare professionals ought to consult patients and their families concerning their preferred medical procedures. Some clients may choose anesthesia instead of costly life-extending therapy. The therapist should only offer advice to clients without deciding what is best for them.
Medical experts should also avoid mixing private and professional matters. Drawing on the ACHE code of ethics (2021), healthcare executives should not exploit professional relationships for their gain. Likewise, doctors should avoid romantic relationships with previous and current customers or even refer the patients to their private pharmaceuticals to sell drugs at an inflated price. The doctors based in public hospitals should avoid referring customers to their private clinics for specialized treatment. If they have to send clients to their clinics, the treatment should be for a condition that they cannot address at the public facility. However, the medical experts should reveal to the customer that they would be going to their clinic, their financial interest, and other places to find quality care for comparison purposes.
Relationship to Workmates
Healthcare executives should be role models in a work environment. According to the 2021ACHE’s code of ethics, healthcare administrators should act in ways that “merit the trust, confidence, and respect of other healthcare professionals and the general public” (Using ACHE’s code of ethics, 2021, para. 10). Consequently, a suitable executive should respect the practices and customs of colleagues. For instance, the leader should allow workers whose religion requires long beards to keep them. Similarly, the administrator should enable members of staff paid leave and dress codes that are compliant with their religious beliefs.
The leader should also avoid discriminating against employees based on their gender. Raj (2020) underscores that socio-economic inequalities in the United States are gendered and racialized. Thus, Native Americans, Latina, and African Americans earn lower salaries than white men and women for the same jobs (Raj, 2020). A rational healthcare executive should implement organizational policies requiring equal compensation for every doctor at the institution. The administrative procedures should emphasize that clients’ overtreatment and undertreatment are intolerable despite an employee’s qualifications.
Relationship to the Occupation
Hospital leaders should offer consultative expertise and support reasonable use of authority to encourage collaborative relationships. For instance, rational healthcare administrators should begin and support discussing contentious issues touching on patient and community health. The administrator should also address domestic violence, end-of-life decisions, healthcare security practices, family planning, clean water sources, and financial planning. The discussions help communities avoid conflicts and preventable medical expenses. For example, emergency contraceptive drugs such as Postinor-2 cause severe side effects on people with breast cancer and high blood pressure (Postinor-2 tablets, 2018). Healthcare executives should allocate time to research and identify medical issues affecting the community. In turn, the discovery helps the executives develop safety precautions that improve the well-being of the people served.
The executives’ commitment to the occupation should also include valuing the lives of clients more than money. The professional should provide emergency healthcare services to patients instead of demanding payments before offering first aid and other requisite treatment procedures. Similarly, treatment procedures ought to be based on medical necessity instead of payment ability. Lastly, healthcare professionals must use their authority to further the interest of the healthcare sector instead of fulfilling their associates, family, and friends (Using ACHE’s code of ethics, 2021). In general, healthcare professionals should resolve politically charged ethical dilemmas in ways that benefit clients, the community, and other stakeholders of the facility.
Relationship to the Community
Healthcare administrators should focus their effort on developing solutions intended to solve community health issues. First, the executives should encourage employees to participate in communal festivities, voluntary jobs, and community services to understand the challenges of the people served. The elected officials, healthcare organizations, and businesses also organize free community treatment services, requiring voluntary doctors. The opportunities offer medical experts suitable options to identify social determinants that lead to health disparities and possible solutions to the causal factors. Finally, the executives promote communal discussion of resource allocation in situations where community and organizational goals seem to differ (Using ACHE’s code of ethics, 2021). Therefore, healthcare professionals must give back to society by improving their health services outside the hospital setting.
Conclusion
Healthcare administrators require a personalized code of ethics to regulate their professional relationships with clients, the community, and colleagues. The Ethics Toolkit should define how an individual addresses ethical dilemmas in a healthcare setting, ensures equity at work, and resolves ethical concerns concerning staff or patient harassment. Overall, the Ethics Toolkit ascertains that healthcare executives follow standardized programs in staff compensation, patient treatment, hiring rules, and community engagement policies.
References
ACHE code of ethics. (2021). American College of Healthcare Executives. Web.
NAHQ code of ethics for healthcare quality professionals and code of conduct. (2018). National Association for Healthcare Quality. Web.
Postinor-2 tablets. (2018). NPS MedicineWise. Web.
Raj, A. (2020). Where is gender equality in the United States? Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. Web.
Using ACHE’s code of ethics. (2021). American College of Healthcare Executives. Web.