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ethical

ethical The word “ethics, derived from the Greek term ethos, originally meant customs, habitual usage, conduct, and character and the word “morals”, derived from the Latin mores, means customs or habit. Today, in the widest sense, these two words refer to conduct, character, and motives involved in moral acts and include the notion of approval or disapproval of a given conduct, character, or motive that describe by such words as good, desirable, right and worthy. The following are definitions of the concepts of ethics and beneficence as set forth in The American College Dictionary and Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary. ethics 1. the principle of morality, including both the science of the good and the nature of the right. 2. the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions: medical ethics. 3. moral principles as of an individual. 4....the science of the human character in its ideal state. --Syn. 2. See moral. (1). ethics 1. [Gr. ethos, moral custom]. A system of moral principles or standards governing conduct... e., nursing. A system of principles governing conduct of a nurse. It deals with the relationship of a nurse to the patient's family, associates and fellow nurses, and society at large. (2). beneficence 1. the doing of good; active goodness or kindness; charity. 2. beneficent act or gift; benefaction. (1). The adherence to ethical standards and the acting beneficent are essential to any form of health care practice. As advances are made in medical technology, advances are also made in accessibility of information. The Internet provides many medical web sites; a patient can easily obtain additional information, conflicting information, and even incorrect information. It is then imperative that healthcare providers be completely forthcoming and thorough regarding a medical condition, the possible outcomes, and forms of treatment. To do otherwise would cause a great disservice to the patient and results in distrust towards the practitioner. The need for full disclosure it not limited to just individuals providing healthcare, but includes those who manage informational medical sites, both professional and consumer base. The hi-tech world calls upon stricter observance of ethical standards. Inappropriate and incorrect information, regardless of delivery, can have devastating effects. To aid in protecting the web site consumer, the Internet Healthcare Coalition was formed. "Just as the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, founded in 1978, has set the standards for how medical journal authors and editors should behave, the leaders of the e-health information enterprise should now set common standards for ethical behavior." (Jasket, 1999). Lastly, healthcare consumers need to be instructed to evaluate the source of information, and not just blindly trust the written word. As it has been and will continue to be, educating the healthcare consumer or patient remains a primary objective. The telling of the truth to patients in terms of diagnosis, outcome, possibilities of outcomes and/or probability of outcomes are all areas that we are familiar with in terms of patient-physician relationship and patient-nurse relationship. The code of the American Nurses Association states: "Clients have a moral right...to be given accurate information."(3) There are several areas that patients are given information about areas they might not know to ask about. A pertinent example has to do with medications. The older neuroleptics are more likely to cause tardive dyskinesia, which is an irreversible type of movement disorder. In the 1960's these were the only drugs available and patients were given informed consent about the possible side effects. There were also major problems in the area of fertility and women becoming pregnant while taking these drugs and the effect on the developing fetus. Most of the problems occurred in the first trimester and with neural tube development so that it was likely that the pregnancy would be almost past that stage of development before it was discovered. In psychiatry there is no terminal disease that patients must be told about, however, we get many patients who have been diagnosed and informed in other areas and need a place to discuss thoughts, feelings, and plans. Many patients are grateful that they are able to make plans and get areas of their lives in order (for example, to write a will) and to work through their own feelings of mortality after been told of their diagnosis-prognosis. In fact many areas of the hospital are employing staff just to meet the needs of these patients. At the present time we have tests that can predict the probability of developing a disease many years ahead, for example the test for Huntington's Chorea. Some patients may will not want to take the test, fearing that perhaps the test result is positive, and they have to live for the rest of their life knowing that for the rest of their life. In this age of cloning and gene splicing it is very important to have a truthful relationship established between the patient and the health care provider. However, James Drane points out that " to become a truthful person we have to struggle first to know the truth. Then we have to struggle with personal prejudices that can distort any information we gather. We have to try to be objective." (4) He ends his powerful paper saying " Finally, to tell the truth is not to deny hope. Hope and truth and even friendship and love are all part of an ethics of caring to the end." (5) How are we to apply these ethical concepts to our daily practice? Nurses must be vigilant regarding how our thoughts, attitudes, actions, and interventions may impact not only the well-being of our patients but the society at large. In the words paraphrased from Lavinia Dock in 1900, "Nurses have a moral responsibility for anticipating, analyzing, and reflecting on the issues of the day; otherwise,...we will "allow some other body of persons to take this trouble off our hands, in return for which service we would place ourselves under their control." (6). 1. Barnhart, C. L., & Stein, J. (Eds.). (1967). The American college dictionary. New York: 2. Thomas, C. L. (Ed.). (1986). Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary . 15. Philadelphia: 3. American Nurses Association Code for Nursing. 4. Drane, J., Honesty in Medicine, Should Doctors Tell the Truth? Sala http://www.uchile.cl/bioetica/drane3.htm. 6. White, G. B. (2000). What we may expect from ethics and the law. American Journal of Nursing 1900-2000, 100(10), 114-118 Bibliography: Bibliography Jasket, T. (December 1999). Medical Web Sites Need Ethical Standards. Dermatology Times. 20 (12) University of Phoenix Online Collection [EBSCOhost ]. http:// ehostvgw12.epnet.com/ehost1.asp?key=204.179.122.141_8000_352474046&site= ehost&return=n&profile=uphoenix.man.

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