LAW, ETHICAL THEORIES AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES

Differentiate between the Law, Ethical Theories and Codes of Professional Practice



Differentiate between the Law, Ethical Theories and Codes of Professional Practice

Introduction

Codes of conduct are statements of values, beliefs, standards, legal compliance, or organizational policy and procedures that are articulated to inform those governed by the codes or hold those affected by the codes accountable to this type of ethical behavior. Every professional association has created and promulgated a code of conduct for its members. There are more than 1,000 codes of ethical conduct developed by business organizations. Recent surveys of Fortune 500 companies report that more than 97% of all large multinational businesses have codes of conduct. Codes are understood as the primary means of institutionalizing ethics into the culture, religion, profession, learned societies, or business organizations. A Touche Ross national survey revealed that their respondents believed that codes are the most effective measure for encouraging ethical behavior at work. This paper differentiates between the law, ethical theories and codes of professional practice in a concise and comprehensive way.

Discussion

Gaumnitz and Lere (2004) mention why keep patients' confidences? The ethical principles behind the duty of confidentiality are fairly easy to understand. It is the details that can sometimes be confusing. Hippocrates, the ancient Greek philosopher and physician, instructed healthcare practitioners to keep secret the information given to them by patients, because it was virtuous behaviour and reflected the good character of the professional. He may not have had primary care teams in mind but the duties he described have been handed down over the centuries nonetheless (Gaumnitz and Lere, 2004). Patients expect their nurses and doctors to maintain their trust as part of the relationship with them, such that if the trust is broken and their confidences discussed openly, they may not share their secrets again.

Clearly if that happened nurses would no longer be able to help the patient as effectively. The principle of respect for personal autonomy is a crucial component of the duty of confidentiality. Autonomy is held to be the pre-eminent principle in healthcare ethics.1 We accept that patients are in a position to make decisions about their healthcare, and it follows that they should also be able to decide the fate of the information underlying their healthcare. And finally, there is now an argument in favour of patients' right to privacy, with respect to their personal information, that creates a duty ...