Ethical Issues in Healthcare

Running head: Ethical Issues in Healthcare 1
Ethical Issues in HealthCare; Justice and Nonmaleficence
(Author’s name)
(Institutional Affiliation)

Ethical Issues in Healthcare 2
Ethics in healthcare are used to guide healthcare professionals in evaluating and
examining individual’s problems especially in clinical cases and research using logic, values, and
facts to determine what is best for the clients involved(WHO, 2016). Ethical issues are guided by
two major principles which include justice and nonmaleficence(International Council of Nurses,
2012). Both principles must be applied to all case scenarios to ensure social justice and patients’
rights protection.
Justice in ethics implies that the benefits and burden of healthcare research or new
treatments must be distributed across all groups in society(Holt, 2017). This requires the research
and procedures involved to follow the existing laws that promote fairness to all individuals
involve(Johnstone, 2015). In order to ensure the principle of justice is highly utilized in a
healthcare setup, there are various areas that are usually evaluated. These include equally and
fairly distribution of the available resources, the balance of the competing needs, checking the
potential conflicts with the legislation and observing rights and obligations(WHO, 2016).
However, there are certain areas like reproductive technologies that might ethical dilemmas due
to the fact that treatment may not be available for all people.
Nonmaleficence is regarded as the most important of all ethical principles, guided by
Hippocratic Oath, which dictates that all health care providers must not cause intentional harm or
injury to the patients(International Council of Nurses, 2012). Health care providers usually use
four major things to make sure this principle is observed. These include checking whether an act
is not intrinsically wrong, whether a good effect was intended, determining if an intended good
effect will lead to negative impacts and checking if the good overweighs the bad(Holt, 2017).
Protection from harm does not only apply from direct treatments but even risks of harm. This
principle can be violated with or without intentions, and even some of the medical health