How Ethics Committee
Decide upon Issues of Morality
In the discussion on the decision on issues of morality, let
us first look at the goals of the ethics committee. Pozgar (2012) gave us list which
includes:
Support : They
provide guidance to patients, members of their family, the healthcare decision
making team-
Review : Upon
request the evaluate cases that present conflicts basic value system
-
Clarification: The
committee is a vital resource in ambiguous situations (ethical, legal or religious
in nature) that are outside the realm of day-to-day operations
-
Rights of Patients: They are instrumental in
promoting patient’s rights and privileges.
-
Patient-Centered: The ethics committee promotes
fair policies and procedures that optimizes the probability of
patient-centered results - Provide relevant assistance for patient and families in the determination
of best care needs
-
Ethical Tenor: Optimization
of ethical environment and behavior of both healthcare facilities
and the medical practitioners.
In order to achieve these goals
the healthcare ethics committee relies on some fundamental theories that have
informed the development of medical ethics. These are the key moral theories
and ethical framework that have had significant impact on decisions relating to
issues of morality.
Ethical Theory
According to Pozgar (2012) ethical theories and principles introduce
order into the way people think about life. It is the attempt to explain our
moral judgment by defining our actions as right or wrong.
Ethical theories present different
scenarios that guide the caregiver’s decision-making process. It presents the ‘other
side of the story’ enabling the caregiver visualize possible outcomes of
alternative medical procedures and treatment plans.
§
Normative ethics – seeks to determine the moral
standards to be adopted to ensure morally correct behavior.
§
Consequential ethics – determines that the
morality of an action is in the optimization of the balance of good versus evil.
It is accomplishing the greatest good for the greatest number.
§
Situational Ethics – Thus given circumstances determine the course
of action, not necessarily adhering to moral values.
§
Deontological Theory – It is proceeding on a
course of action based on duty bound obligations.
§
Nonconsequential Ethics – The rightness of
wrongness is found inside the action and not the consequences.
§
Ethical Relativism – Morality or the concepts of
right or wrong are based on the cultural norms of the society.
Ethical decision making is determining the right course of
action when faced with a moral dilemma.
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