Respect
Workers at the care unit should observe the various ethical principles and values to ensure quality attention to patients. The ethical values include respect, fairness, dignity, autonomy, and equality (Doody, and Noonan, 2016). Caregivers should also avoid ‘doing harm’ to the patients. Organizations have codes of conduct that guide their practices. Employees should observe the codes of conduct to ensure efficient productivity. Adhering to the various principles of public life is a mandatory duty of staff members. Confidentiality is an ethical principle that members of staff should observe when attending to the patients.
Respect
Respect refers to a process of considering and regarding the beliefs, values, and rights of other individuals in an unbiased and objective manner (Curtice, and Exworthy, 2010). According to FREDA, respect is enshrined in the Mental Health Act. According to the act, individuals must respect and recognize the diverse circumstances, values, and needs of clients. The various characteristics of patients that demand respect and recognition include sexual orientation, age, gender, culture, religion, and race. The legislation obliges caregivers to consider the client’s feelings, views, and wishes before making any decision regarding medical attention. Care providers must also respect the private life of the patient.
Fairness
Fairness demands that the caregiver should consider the opinions of patients before beginning the process of care. The care providers should allow the patients to express their views, listen to the client and weigh in other factors required before making decisions (Curtice, and Exworthy, 2010). Being fair to patients involves allowing them to choose their preferred method of care. Afterward, the care provider should grant the wish of the client. However, the mental act has a clause explaining the incidences when the caregiver can go against the principle of fairness. An example is when the caregiver feels that the patient’s choice is harmful.
Dignity
According to the domestic jurisprudence in the UK, the protection and recognition of dignity is a critical core value in European society. Dignity refers to a manner, quality, or a state worthy of respect or esteem (Curtice, and Exworthy, 2010). In care set-ups, dignity involves providing care that promotes and supports an individual’s self-respect notwithstanding the status of the patient. The principle of dignity requires caregivers to treat patients humanely. According to the mental act, even the mentally challenged individuals deserve serious treatment. Therefore, caregivers should observe dignity to remain on the right side of the law.
Fairness
Autonomy
Autonomy is an ethical principle requiring caregivers to respect the opinions of the patient regarding treatment (Doody, and Noonan, 2016). The caregiver must avail relevant and adequate information to the patients before allowing them to air their opinions. The 2005 medical capacity act has embedded autonomy in its statute (Curtice, and Exworthy, 2010). The act presumes that the client can make independent decisions. Certain caregivers have challenged the principle of autonomy as constituted in the mental health act. Specific psychiatric patients refuse to undergo medical attention, a scenario that forces psychiatrists to override the principle of independence. Patients should allow caregivers to make decisions on their behalf if they (clients) lack the mental capacity.
Equality
Equality refers to according to everyone, an equal opportunity of accessing services regardless of their cultural, racial, and other differences (Vryonides et al., 2015). In the care set-ups, equality refers to offering quality medical attention to all patients notwithstanding their economic status or cultural backgrounds. The Equality Act of 2006 requires caregivers to shun discrimination when providing care (Curtice, and Exworthy, 2010). Inequality occurs when an individual receives different medical care to another person in the same situation. Similarly, administering similar treatment to persons in different situations is an act of prejudice hence punishable by the UK laws.
Principles of Public Life and Confidentiality
The principles are seven, and they include selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership (Bew, 2015). Confidentiality is keeping patient’s information private from the access of the third part. Caregivers can only disregard the principle of privacy if the patient accepts the act (Preshaw et al., 2016). Selflessness requires caregivers to act by the interests of the public. Objectivity demands that care providers make fair and impartial decisions when attending to patients. According to the principle of accountability, caregivers should take responsibility for their actions. Care providers should provide honest information to patents openly during medical care.
Organizational Codes of Conduct (COD)
Employees COD requires workers to comply with legal requirements in all their endeavors (Garegnani, Merlotti, and Russo, 2015). In the care set-up, caregivers should observe the cores of ethics and values since the two are part of the legal obligations. Care providers must respect their seniors, colleagues, and patients to ensure the smooth operation of the health facility. Every health workers should exhibit professionalism and integrity in the workplace. Additionally, caregivers should observe punctuality and avoid absenteeism at all times. Caregivers should collaborate with their colleagues to ensure quality care. The health workers should establish proper communication channels with patients.
Dignity
‘Doing no harm’
Nonmaleficence is the principle that requires caregivers not to harm their patients in the process of providing care (Doody, and Noonan, 2016). The actions of the health specialist should not jeopardize the well-being and health of patients. Harming the patient can occur due to providing false information about treatment or refusing to provide care to the client. The caregivers should give accurate information to the patient about treatment options. Additionally, health specialists should offer quality care to all patients. Harming the clients goes against the laws and punishable by jail terms to the culpable caregiver. Therefore, avoiding harm preserves the well-being and health of the patient.
Conclusion
Caregivers at the Residential Drug Misuse Unit should observe the core ethics and values to promote the welfare of the clients. Being fair in medical treatment ensures that patients receive adequate attention regardless of their racial or cultural backgrounds. Caregivers should also respect the views of the patients before making decisions. Equity and dignity are also essential when attending to patients. Autonomy demands that caregivers respect the opinions of the patients before beginning the process of administering care. Health workers should also embrace nonmaleficence, principles of public life and codes of conducts in practice.
Factors Influencing the Development of Personal Ethics and Values
The first agenda involves a nurse shocked at the intentions of colleagues to refer a victim of substance misuse to social services workers. Secondly, a service worker is asking whether it is appropriate to pray together with a patient. Thirdly, a section of staff is shy to address equality issues.
Promoting the Rights of Service Users and Staff
In the first agenda, the nurse is shocked to learn that the colleagues are advising a service user to seek help elsewhere. The service user told the workers that her husband beats their son when he is naughty. The residential care unit should promote the rights of staff members by allowing them to make independent decisions (Doody, and Noonan, 2016). Additionally, allowing the service user to seek the help of social service provider promotes her right to appropriate care. The care unit should enable the care workers to pray together with service users if the need arises. Improving equity in service delivery protects the rights of service users.
Ethical Dilemma when Balancing Individual Rights and Duty of Care
In the second agenda, the care worker is in a dilemma of whether to pray together with the patient or otherwise. The service user has the right of asking for the services of the care workers. However, the duty of care may not mandate the care worker to pray together with the service user. Therefore, the care worker should grant the wish of the service user but warn the client about the consequences of their action. In the third agenda, the staff members argue that discussing equality issues upset the clients. However, the duty of care requires them to uphold equality when attending to the clients (Doody, and Noonan, 2016). Therefore, the care workers should use answers from the equality monitoring questions to improve the quality of care.
Autonomy
Deriving Personal Prejudice from Family and Religion
In the first agenda, the nurse’s religion makes her disapprove the intentions of colleagues. The nurse is a lay preacher who believes that the service users should derive every solution from the care unit. In the second agenda, the care worker is unsure of whether to pray together with the client or otherwise. Her religion may be baring her from praying together people and restricting her to personal and private prayer sessions. In the third agenda, the family backgrounds of the care workers are barring them from asking equity monitoring questions. In certain circumstances, family upbringing may prevent an individual from discussing ethnicity for fear of being a racist (Holliday, and Canterbury, 2016).
The Influence of Lack of Knowledge and Fear on Personal Values
In the first agenda, the fear of the nurse makes her be shocked about the decision of her colleagues. Fear can prevent an individual from exercising personal values. In the second agenda, the care worker fears the outcomes of praying together with the client. In the third agenda, the lack of knowledge on equity prevents staff members from discussing equity concerns. Without fear, an individual can exercise personal values freely (Leung, and Morris, 2015). Additionally, care workers should seek adequate knowledge that can enable them to offer quality care to patients.
Equality Act
The Act requires caregivers to treat clients equally regardless of their gender, race, ethnicity, financial status, religion, or culture (Horridge, 2015). In the third agenda, the care workers lacked adequate knowledge of the equality act, prompting them to shy away from addressing fairness concerns. In the second agenda, the care workers should pray together with the service provider to satisfy the provisions of the act. Allowing patients to seek better care elsewhere is also appropriate.
Resolving the Issues Discussed at the Team Meeting
Professional boundaries are invisible structures created by ethical and legal standards to respect the rights of the service users and the care workers (Drennan et al., 2017). The boundaries ensure that the relationship between the caregiver and the patient focuses on the needs of the client. The first way of maintaining a professional boundary is by keeping physical limits. The care worker should desist from discussing family matters with clients. The solution to the three agendas requires those involved to maintain professional boundaries. In the first agenda, the colleagues of the nurse should explain why they are referring to the service user to a social service worker.
In the second agenda, the care worker should explain to the service user that praying together jeopardizes professional boundary between them. However, the care worker can pray for the client on a separate platform. In the third agenda, the care workers require training on cultural competence and sensitivity. The training enables the workers to realize the essence of discussing equality issues. Maintaining professional boundaries is an efficient way of solving ethical dilemmas in health and social work sectors (Drennan et al., 2017). In conclusion, both the caregivers and the patients require training on professional boundaries.
References
Bew, P., 2015. The Committee on Standards in Public Life: Twenty Years of the Nolan Principles 1995–2015. The Political Quarterly, 86(3), pp.411-418.
Curtice, M.J. and Exworthy, T., 2010. FREDA: a human rights-based approach to healthcare. The Psychiatrist, 34(4), pp.150-156. doi: 10.1192/pb.bp.108.024083
Doody, O. and Noonan, M., 2016. Nursing research ethics, guidance, and application in practice. British Journal of Nursing, 25(14), pp.803-807.
Drennan, V.M., Gabe, J., Halter, M., de Lusignan, S. and Levenson, R., 2017. Physician associates in primary health care in England: A challenge to professional boundaries?. Social Science & Medicine, 181, pp.9-16.
Garegnani, G.M., Merlotti, E.P. and Russo, A., 2015. Scoring firms’ codes of ethics: An explorative study of quality drivers. Journal of Business Ethics, 126(4), pp.541-557.
Holliday, A. and Canterbury, U.K., 2016. Cultural travel and cultural prejudice. Identities: representation and practices, pp.25-44.
Horridge, K.A., 2015. Advance Care Planning: practicalities, legalities, complexities, and controversies. Archives of disease in childhood, 100(4), pp.380-385.
Leung, K. and Morris, M.W., 2015. Values, schemas, and norms in the culture–behavior nexus: A situated dynamics framework. Journal of International Business Studies, 46(9), pp.1028-1050.
Preshaw, D.H., Brazil, K., McLaughlin, D. and Frolic, A., 2016. Ethical issues experienced by healthcare workers in nursing homes: a Literature review. Nursing Ethics, 23(5), pp.490-506.
Vryonides, S., Papastavrou, E., Charalambous, A., Andreou, P. and Merkouris, A., 2015. The ethical dimension of nursing care rationing: A thematic synthesis of qualitative studies. Nursing Ethics, 22(8), pp.881-900.
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