Ethical and Moral Values in Healthcare: A Nursing Home Case Study

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This report explores ethical considerations in UK nursing homes.

RAMONA: ETHICS AND VALUES IN HEALTH AND SOCIAL
CARE {AR}
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 1: fundamental ethics and values governing the operation of a nursing home.......................3
Administering treatment without discriminating.........................................................................4
Promoting and supporting rights..................................................................................................4
Communication:...........................................................................................................................6
Maintaining confidentiality..........................................................................................................6
Acknowledging personal beliefs and identity..............................................................................7
Task 2 Factors influencing the development of personal ethics......................................................7
Task 3 Resolving issues raised at the team meeting........................................................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
Reference list.................................................................................................................................10
Appendices....................................................................................................................................12
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Introduction
The foundation of a sustainable healthy society is the dual pillars of ethics and values. Similar
but not identical, ethics are the governing norms that dictate the behaviour of an individual or the
society in general moulded by culture or groups. Values are faiths which motivate or guide a
person. In the past few decades, advancements in technology and science have directly promoted
the healthcare and medicine field at an accelerated velocity which has benefited millions of
people all around the globe. However, as the important context of healthcare underwent an
unbelievable change, new challenges of moral and ethical nature arose which always troubled
healthcare officials and medical professionals (online.sju.edu, 2019). A Hospital or a Nursing
home is an institution which provides medical assistance and helps to sick, unwell, convalescing
and injured individuals. An operational nursing home is an essential requirement of every
developed society, as it promotes and aids in the general health of society. An institution
involved in the noble field of nursing must uphold the principles of ethics under any
circumstances, which will promote equality, remove prejudices and in general improve patient
care.
Task 1: fundamental ethics and values governing the operation of a nursing
home
The rudimentary components of nursing homes are their management, health officials, nurses
and so on so forth. They work together in a concerted manner to seamlessly navigate the internal
functions of a nursing home successfully administering required medical to their patients. Even
Though ethics and morals are an essential elementary aspect of any organization, in healthcare
segment where caregivers are required to directly interact with their patients, who may come
from varied cultures and background and treating each and everyone accordingly with equal
care and respect is a necessity, morals and work ethics assumes an even more crucial role.
Therefore, in healthcare organisations laying down high ethical standards is of utmost
importance. Compliance with local and national regulatory and human rights acts, even more
adhering to the organisational code of conducts will not only streamline and linearise the process
of imparting healthcare but also simultaneously create an environment of cooperation and
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positive thinking effectively reducing the burden of moral and ethical dilemma in healthcare
(Arru et al. 2017). [Referred to appendix 1]
There are core nursing values that define the fundamental aspects of nursing and caregiving:
Administering treatment without discriminating
The ability of a healthcare professional to understand, evaluate, and render cautiousness and
sensitivity while managing care is defined as empathy. The very foundation of understanding is
respect and appreciation of the patient as an independent individual and not as a client. Further
healthcare individuals provide all necessary care with due consideration without any prejudice or
discriminatory attitude. "Care Certificate 2015" is a mandatory requirement for individuals
involved in the caregiving process. The “Care Quality Commission” undertakes the duty to
oversee the proper enactment of all regulations about general health and adult social care laid
down under the “Health and Social care Act 2008”. The CQC performs the double duty of
candour as well as the duty of supervision; the duty of candour safeguards the public's right to
knowledge under circumstances where the healthcare service has possibly gone wrong while it
actively prohibits employment of any individual who might be incompetent, unskilled or of
dubious character.
Promoting and supporting rights
In the United Kingdom, every public health institutions must oblige and uphold the human rights
of its citizens, which encompasses all statutory rights and freedoms citizen of the nation is
entitled to. It is the duty of the organisation, to abide by the rules of the land, and in doing so, it
ensures that the experiences of every connected individual, from care acceptors, to care providers
improves (Gillon, 2015).
The “Human Rights Act 1998” UK safeguards the fundamental rights and freedoms of the
citizens of the United Kingdom. The FREDA Principles ( Fairness, Respect, Equality, Dignity,
Autonomy) is a human rights concept in clinical establishments, the approach is relatively new,
and as “ Department of Health’’ puts it “ FREDA is a human rights concept which inculcates the
core principles of human rights, in clinical establishment planning and policy, especially where
caregivers and takers are closely involved.”
The five core principles of FREDA are:
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(Source: Created by author)
Fairness:
The fundamental aspect of this principle is to ensure that in a nursing home care acceptors or
patients opinions, their point of views are duly expressed, heard and are considered by healthcare
officials, and are incorporated in the process of decision making.
Respect:
In clinical establishments, the patients are to be treated with the utmost care, their rights, values
and preconceived beliefs are considered without any untoward prejudice. Respect is a
generalised term that often implies that an organisation must have a laid down proper
groundwork which will guide the process of decision making without violating the fundamental
rights of the patients.
Equality
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FREDAPrinciplesFairnessRespectEqualityDignityAutonomy

The principles of equality overlap with the non-discriminatory laws, right to primary healthcare,
right to equal treatment and thus is a generalised term.
Dignity
Sharing similarity with respect, the dignity principle of FREDA aims to ensure that every person
under the care of a clinical establishment receives similar care and their self-worth is not belittled
or infringed upon based on caste, creed, religion or any other distinguishable features.
Autonomy
Autonomy is the right of patients to participate equally in the decision making procedure. The
fundamental right to be aware of engaged and considers the pro and cons of offered opportunities
and then form an informed decision based on available information.
Care Act
The Care Act 2014, approved by the parliament of "United Kingdom" is legislation that replaced
the old social service activities and aimed to warrant the wellbeing of the citizen of the United
Kingdom in need of care and assistance. It further seeks to personalise the way health care in the
United Kingdom is usually imparted putting the ailed person at the centre of the service.
Communication:
Members communication skill also affects a patient's capacity to engage with the healthcare
personnel, go through the medical treatment procedures and recommendations, as well as adopt
preventive measures. The given case scenarios describe an incident, where the staff manager is
discussing reported incidents of misbehaviour among staffs and client groups. It is imperative to
note that, patient's measure quality of healthcare based on their interaction with the primary
healthcare officials. Therefore, negative communication among staff members and clients is
going to delay patient care and decrease overall efficiency (kingsfund.org.uk, 2019).
Maintaining confidentiality
Healthcare professionals are extensively trained and nursing Home managements exercise
extreme caution while collecting and storing data, so that crucial data never reaches to any
unscrupulous personnel who have no right to know. “Data Protection Act 1998”, in alignment
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with the “ Common Law for Principles of Confidentiality, Article 8 (HRA)” directs
organizations and public bodies including nursing homes to process patient data unbiased,
accurately, adequately for an aforementioned stated purpose, and to be kept under strict security
and not to be help after the stipulated time period (gov.uk, 2019).
Acknowledging personal beliefs and identity
Duly recognising personal beliefs in the healthcare profession possibly refer to cultural
sensitivity. In a medical setup, where caregivers have to attend individuals from diverse
background, a patient might refuse treatment which is supposedly going to benefit them based on
cultural and religious beliefs. Therefore it is imperative, that healthcare services be modelled in
such a way that it makes patients from multicultural background feels comfortable. Most nursing
homes in the United Kingdom, guided by "Care Quality Commissions (Registrations) 2009" has
set a code of conduct policy, which staffs and officials are required to follow to ensure that
patients are treated fairly and accordingly safeguarding their personal preferences and religious
beliefs (diversity healthcare.imedpub.com, 2019).
Task 2 Factors influencing the development of personal ethics
The scenarios describe three different situations which view the development of personal ethics,
moral dilemmas as well as religious and cultural influences on the development of personal
ethics. The first case discusses a situation where there have been alleged incidences of
misbehaviour among staff members. This encompasses work ethics, which is the dash of ethical
and moral principles in the workplace. Moral ethics at workplace typically include honesty,
sincerity and integrity while performing duties as well as treating and clients with respectfully
and cordially (Osibanjo et al. 2018). Development of moral ethics is influenced by
environmental and societal factors such as family and social upbringing. An organisation such as
a healthcare establishment, where interpersonal cooperation and interaction is a necessity, such
misdemeanour can affect the entire healthcare quality. This unruly behaviour against the
organisational code of conduct can disrupt harmony and is thus a matter of grave concern not
only for the organisation but also for the individual who can lose their job. The second scenario
describes the case of very religious women, who felt betrayed by her colleague’s suggestion to
call social service as she confided with them the fact that her husband beat their young child for
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being naughty. A moral paradox arises during a decision-making process when neither of the
possible choices is considered suitable from an ethical point of view (Congress, 2017). The
woman, strongly believes in her faith and therefore does not considers social service a viable
option, but her friend who is not so guided by religious beliefs unwittingly advice her to get help.
The third case scenario speaks of a Pakistani woman who refuses to take treatment from anyone
except Nadia since she considers other English nurses being of questionable morality based on
their choice of attire. Religious beliefs and social; norms profoundly influence the development
of personal ethics. Social standards cultivated from a young age define our preferences. The
aforementioned Pakistani woman has grown up in a particular environment which has shaped her
personality and perception of the world. That explains her prejudiced judgmental behaviour, as
she refuses treatment from other women she considers immoral. In healthcare, as mentioned
before, caregivers are required to cater to people from various backgrounds, such judgmental
approach rooted in culture, family and society might affect the healthcare quality. Therefore
organisations exert caution and explicitly mentions in their code of conduct drawn under the
"Equality act", which promises fair and ethical treatment of every worker irrespective of colour,
religion and (race icaew.com, 2019).[ Referred to appendix 2]
Task 3 Resolving issues raised at the team meeting
The first step towards resolving ethical issues is working towards identifying them. Identification
of the problem will lead to better implementation and monitoring of the situation and ultimately
resolution. Professional boundaries are legally, socially and ethically imposed imaginary barriers
around patient and healthcare officials (kingsfund.org.uk, 2019). Such restrictions are
constructed keeping in mind the requirements of the involved parties, and every healthcare
officials are mandatorily required to follow them to ensure professional deliverance of healthcare
service (Kangasniemi et al. 2015). Transferable skills such as compassion and empathy, strong
interactive skills, confidentiality, patience, and capability to work under pressure can be
developed through legitimate training of healthcare staffs which will also enable them to
maintain professional boundaries effectively. Healthcare services are offered in a distributive
environment, where individuals from various backgrounds come to take and partake care
services. Therefore Healthcare organisation and nursing homes are slowly incorporating cultural
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competence training in their curriculum to better multicultural cross talk, remove inequalities,
including inclusivity and improve general healthcare quality (Repo et al. 2017).
Conclusion
Healthcare services have evolved with the evolution of science and technology, significantly
changing and improving the general standard condition of living of people all over the world.
Advancements in the scientific world have ensured that the population nowadays do not remain
constricted in a part of the world. Instead, they have equitably distributed all over. The resultant
situation demands appropriate training of healthcare personnel’s, so they are better equipped in
treating patients of diverse cultural backgrounds. The United Kingdom is no exception.
Therefore proper legislative acts and organisational code of conduct are drawn within the
framework of ethical codes to ensure nonpartisan and equitable treatment of all patients.
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Reference list
Journals
Arru, B., Tettamanti, G. and Marcon, E., 2017. Do I need training in public health ethics? A
survey on Italian residents' beliefs, knowledge and curricula. Annali dell'Istituto superiore di
sanita, 53(1), pp.9-16.
Congress, E.P., 2017. What social workers should know about ethics: Understanding and
resolving practice dilemmas. Social Work Ethics, p.1909.
Gillon, R., 2015. Defending the four principles approach as a good basis for good medical
practice and therefore for good medical ethics. Journal of medical ethics, 41(1), pp.111-116.
Kangasniemi, M., Pakkanen, P. and Korhonen, A., 2015. Professional ethics in nursing: an
integrative review. Journal of advanced nursing, 71(8), pp.1744-1757.
Osibanjo, A.O., Akinbode, J., Falola, H.O. and Oludayo, O.O., 2018. Work ethics and
employees’ job performance. Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 12(1), pp.107-
117.
Repo, H., Vahlberg, T., Salminen, L., Papadopoulos, I. and Leino-Kilpi, H., 2017. The cultural
competence of graduating nursing students. Journal of transcultural nursing, 28(1), pp.98-107.
Articles
kingsfund.org.uk, (2019), social values in health care, available
from:https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/commission-background-paper-
social-values-health-social-care.pdf [Accessed on: 23-03-2019]
ncsbn.org, (2019), Professional Boundaries
https://www.ncsbn.org/ProfessionalBoundaries_Complete.pdf[Accessed on: 23-03-2019]
Websites
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diversityhealthcare.imedpub.com, (2019), cultural competency in health care, available
from:http://diversityhealthcare.imedpub.com/exploration-of-cultural-competency-training-in-
ukhealthcare-settings-a-critical-interpretive-reviewof-the-literature.php?aid=7413[Accessed on:
23-03-2019]
gov.uk, (2019), public health ethics in practice, available
from;https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-health-ethics-in-practice [accessed on:
23-03-2019]
icaew.com, (2019), Resolving Ethical Problems, available at:
https://www.icaew.com/technical/ethics/framework-for-resolving-ethical-problems[Accessed on:
23-03-2019]
online.sju.edu, (2019), principles of ethics, available from:
https://online.sju.edu/graduate/masters-health-administration/resources/articles/four-principles-
of-health-care-ethics-improve-patient-care[Accessed on: 23-03-2019]
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Appendices
Appendix 1 Types of Ethics
(Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/collegesuccess2x48x112/chapter/ethics-in-the-
healthcare-environment/)
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