Ethical Considerations: Virtues and Principles in Healthcare

This essay delves into the realm of healthcare ethics, examining the application of three non-hierarchical bioethical principles: non-maleficence, beneficence, and respect for autonomy. It emphasizes that these principles are not absolute but serve as crucial guidelines in healthcare decision-making. The essay further analyzes the author's personal virtues, as revealed by the VIA survey, including leadership, fairness, and the capacity to love and be loved, along with areas needing improvement like diligence and open-mindedness. It then explores the importance of these virtues in fostering an ethical environment, ensuring fair distribution of healthcare resources, and promoting caring practices within the nursing profession. The essay concludes by highlighting the significance of integrating relationships, emotions, and intuition in ethical decision-making, underscoring the impact of virtues on professional practice and patient care.

Running head: ETHICS 1
Ethics: Virtues and Principles
Name of the Student
Institutional Affiliation

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Ethics: Virtues and Principles
Introduction
Ethical decisions, both main and minor challenge as daily when providing healthcare
services to individuals with different values in the diverse cultural society. In the case of such
multiplicity, where should we consider moral actions with the existing conflict and confusion
regarding the actions to be taken? Thus, moral guidelines should be widely acceptable among
the non-religious, religious and individuals from diverse cultures (Johnstone, 2015). As a
result of the main existing variables in a clinical context and the fact that there are various
ethical principles in healthcare that are applicable in many incidences, these guidelines are
not taken as absolutes but act as important action guidelines in healthcare.
Three Bioethical Principle Applications
This essay describes the application of three non-hierarchical bioethical principles.
Non-hierarchical means that none of the principles outweighs the other. Thus, it is advisable
to consider all the three principles in the cases where they are viable to the clinical incidence
being addressed. Hence, the evaluation of balance and weight of possible benefits and risks
becomes a vital element of the thinking process while applying them ("Bioethic Tools:
Principles of Bioethics", 2018).
Ideally, the current principles being used in healthcare ethics appear to be of
significant application and self-evident value. For instance, first, the idea that the practitioner
should not harm any client is persuading on its own to most individuals (Johnstone, 2015).
Also, the notion that the practitioner must create a relevant care plan intended to deliver the
most benefits to the client relative to alternative options, appears both self-evident and
rational. Besides, prior to the implementation of the care plan, it is currently generally
advisable to give the patients the opportunity to make conversant decisions about their own

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care. Lastly, healthcare benefits should be distributed fairly to facilitate the equal treatment of
patients in similar incidences and same needs ("Bioethic Tools: Principles of Bioethics",
2018). This principle is also a very significant principle in the cases of limited resources such
as medication, procedures, bone marrow, expensive diagnostics, and solid organs.
Characters from the Assessment
The character survey by VIA revealed that I have several strengths, three of which are
described below.
Those I have
Leadership
The survey indicated that I excelled well in leadership tasks by encouraging the
groups in which I participate to accomplish tasks and preserve harmony among the members
by involving everyone. Thus, I successfully organized activities and ensure that they are
accomplished.
Fairness, Equity, and Justice
The survey also revealed that I treat all the individuals fairly and that was one of my
way of complying with principles. Thus, I don’t allow my personal feelings to prejudice my
decisions about others. I always give equal chances to everybody.
Capacity to Love and be Loved
According to the survey, I also consider my relationship with others to be very
important, especially the ones I care for, share ideas with and get the same in return. Thus,
the individuals I feel to be close to also feel close to me.

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Those I need
Industry, Diligence, and Perseverance
The survey indicated that I need to work hard in order to accomplish what I started.
Regardless of the nature of the project, I should accomplish it in time. Thus, I should not be
distracted when working and should be interested in accomplishing tasks.
Judgment, Critical Thinking, and Open-mindedness
According to the survey, I should think and examine things while considering all the
sides as important aspects in judgement. Thus, I should not be impulsive but depend on the
reliable evidence before making decisions.
Social intelligence
Lastly, the survey indicated that I should consider the feelings and motives of other
individuals. By doing so, I would be able to fit in diverse social settings and make others
comfortable.
Importance of the Virtues
Leadership
By providing an ethical environment, ethical leadership results in effective and
positive results for the clients along with the management and nurses for professional
improvement and growth of the nursing sector ("Authentic Happiness | Authentic
Happiness", 2018). Hence, an ethical climate that favours the development and progression of
nurses should be encouraged by focusing more on the values by educating leaders on ethical
values and utilizing an objective and consistent strategy to evaluate ethics in the nursing
sector.

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Fairness
Fairness focuses on the equal dispensing of healthcare services in the community by
considering the importance of entitlement. The issue of distribution justice heavily depends
on the idea that most of the healthcare resources are limited, meaning they are inadequate to
cater for everyone and hence the need for fair methods of allocating the limited goods and
services (Code of ethics for registered nurses, 2017).
Caring
Caring is a fundamental principle in nursing ethics. Apparently, it is considered a
significant asset to the alleged requirement that articulates to the feminist medical ethics
(Lachman, Swanson and Winland-Brown, 2015).
The Risk of Lacking Ethical Virtues
As a professional nurse, it is obvious that lacking the above ethical values may cause
me to be subjected to the risk of being involved in incidences that may result in malpractice
litigation or disciplinary charges.
Other Virtues
Generosity and Kindness
Nurses should be generous and kind to other nurses, patients, other staff members,
and other relevant individuals. Kindness and generosity are important virtues as they enable
the nurses to avoid being too busy to attend to others (Bramley and Matiti, 2014). Thus,
nurses should find it interesting when serving others even if they don’t know them.

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Prudence, Caution, and Discretion
Nurses should also be careful by ensuring that their decisions are consistent and
prudent. They should avoid doing or saying things that may make them regret later (Newham,
2015).
Teamwork, Loyalty, and Citizenship
Also, nurses should embrace teamwork and strive to succeed more as group members.
They should be loyal and devoted teammates by sharing and working hard to succeed as a
group (Daly, Jackson, Mannix, Davidson and Hutchinson, 2014).
Conclusion
Being virtuous entails more than just engaging in rational decision making. It entails
the integration of relationships, emotions, and intuition into one’s moral life. The way people
feel is among the most significant aspects of making moral decisions. Thus, virtuous
individuals consider feelings. They are not only aware of what they feel about actions but
also they are aware of the extent of emotions and the point at which it is necessary to act.
This essay has described the application of bioethical principles, identified and described the
personal values revealed by the VIA Survey, and concluded by describing the other important
virtues in the healthcare profession.

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References
Authentic Happiness | Authentic Happiness. (2018). Retrieved from
http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/
Bioethic Tools: Principles of Bioethics. (2018). Retrieved from
https://depts.washington.edu/bioethx/tools/princpl.html
Bramley, L., & Matiti, M. (2014). How does it really feel to be in my shoes? Patients'
experiences of compassion within nursing care and their perceptions of developing
compassionate nurses. Journal Of Clinical Nursing, 23(19-20), 2790-2799. doi:
10.1111/jocn.12537
Canadian Nurses Association. (2017). Code of ethics for registered nurses. Ottawa.
Daly, J., Jackson, D., Mannix, J., Davidson, P., & Hutchinson, M. (2014). The importance of
clinical leadership in the hospital setting. Journal Of Healthcare Leadership, 75. doi:
10.2147/jhl.s46161
Johnstone, M. J. (2015). Bioethics: a nursing perspective. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Lachman, V. D., Swanson, E. O. C., & Winland-Brown, J. (2015). The New'Code of Ethics
for Nurses with Interpretative Statements'(2015): Practical Clinical Application, Part
II. Medsurg Nursing, 24(5), 363.
Newham, R. A. (2015). Virtue ethics and nursing: on what grounds?. Nursing Philosophy,
16(1), 40-50.