Dear Sir , i have to write an assay about Ethics…
Dear Sir , i have to write an assay about Ethics in healthcare ,the important of ethics or how to observed actions of others at your work . and provide examples from hospital environment. i will attached the document of this assignment fro more details. thank you Leadership and Ethics Assignment 4 Assignment 4 task: Write a short essay (1500-2000 words maximum), which explains how in your own professional work it is necessary to make ethical judgments or how the observed actions of others at your work can be analyzed in terms of ethical dimensions. Provide and discuss one or more specific examples rather than debate in general terms and indicate what kinds of ethical thinking apply. Ethical theories (see P.G. Northouse Chapter 14) are of two general types: theories about leaders behaviour or conduct and theories about leaders character. The behavioural approach is further divided into theories stressing the consequences of leaders actions and those concerned with the duty of leaders and the rules governing their actions. Emphasis on outcomes: Ethical egoism describes how leaders act out of a sense of how they or their organisation might benefit most. On the other hand, utilitarianism refers to seeking the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Altruism is closely related and places a positive ethical value on behaviour that seeks the well being of others. Emphasis on duty: the deontological approach. Here the judgment on ethics is based not only on the outcome, but on whether the action is good or bad in itself. For example, telling the truth, being ‘fair’, respecting others, keeping promises, might all be seen as right/good in themselves, regardless of the potential outcome. Now you have a good idea of what kind of events we are thinking about, look at the following table, which is from Ch. 14 of Yukl 2006 ‘Leadership in Organisations’. It provides a series of 8 criteria by which we might assess leaders, and then describes the behavior of ‘ethical’ and ‘unethical’ leaders in relation to each criterion. The two columns on the right are clearly the extreme positions of a continuum. Look carefully at each line in turn and think about whether you agree with what is said. Is the stated perspective more limited than you would like it to be or can it be expressed in other terms? Does it help describe aspects of the world of work as you have experienced it? Criterion Ethical Leadership Unethical Leadership Use of leader power and influence Serves followers and the organization Satisfies personal needs and career objectives Handling diverse interests of the multiple stakeholders Attempts to balance and integrate them Favors coalition partners who offer the most benefits Development of a vision for the organization Develops a vision based on follower input about their Attempts to sell a personal vision as the only way for the organization to succeed needs, values and ideas Integrity of leader behavior Acts consistent with espoused values Does what is expedient to attain personal objectives Risk taking in leader decisions and actions Is willing to take a personal risks and make necessary decisions Avoids necessary decisions or actions that involve personal risk to the leader Communication of relevant information operations Makes a complete and timely disclosure of information about events, problems and actions Uses deception and distortion to bias follower perceptions about problems and progress Response to criticism and dissent by followers Encourages critical evaluation to find better solutions Discourage and suppresses any criticism or dissent Development of follower skills and self confidence. Uses coaching, mentoring and training to develop followers Deemphasizes development to keep followers weak and dependent on the leader. Note that the examples that follow below are simply to help orientate you and provide ideas. Please do NOT discuss these in your assignment report, but instead provide examples from your own professional experience. However, you may if you wish use the tabulated form of analysis used at the end of the page, if you find it helpful for organizing your own ideas. Introduction and background In every area of professional life, decisions and judgments are made by leaders and managers which have an ethical dimension and none more so than in health care. Why does health care provide such a complex and challenging ethical environment? Perhaps it is because from its very nature health care involves the lives of so many others and can affect people in such fundamental ways. In our course introduction we identified that fact that leadership has much to do with power. As we now look at leadership ethics, we focus on assessing how such power is used, towards what ends and how a leaders beliefs and actions are shaped by underlying values. We ask questions such as: Why do leaders do what they do? Is what they are doing good or bad, right or wrong? Not the fundamental difference here from asking whether decisions lead to effective or efficient actions or organisational arrangements. As you think about such issues, focus in turn on ends, means and outcomes. Ethical leadership is inevitably tied up with your particular notion of personal integrity: remember the prominence of ‘honesty’ in the traits expected of leaders? We can also relate this topic to other models or perspectives of leadership, for example see Burns’ theory of transformational leadership which moves both leaders and followers to a higher moral and motivational level but changes their beliefs, attitudes and even their values. It is not easy to assess the ethics of leader behaviour when there is no consistency between the interests of the leader, the followers, the organisation and other affected people (e.g. in the community). For example, how do we assess the behavior of leaders who create enthusiasm for a basically risky strategy or project? Would it become a more acceptable path if the leader provides full information about the risk to her/his employees. How many leaders dwell on the negatives though, rather than taking a positive attitude, conveying it to all and pushing ahead? Isn’t that what leadership is supposed to be all about? Examples of specific situations demanding ethical thinking from leaders Note these are just a few examples and the list of situations is actually almost endless! 1. You are to select a new front line staff member (receptionist) for your private clinic from a short list of candidates. Two candidates are moderately well qualified and are of a similar ethnic and cultural background to most of your patients. One is from an ethnic minority group and you are concerned about how patients might react. You worry that by appointing this candidate you will lose some business and that will reduce profits and bonuses for you and your staff. However, this candidate has more experience and higher qualifications than the other two and you do not want to be seen to discriminate on ethnic grounds. What decision do you take and why? 2. A new highly effective drug treatment is made available that will benefit many people in your city. However, you have read that it can have serious side effects in small number of cases. Do you support prescription of the drug by your health authority on the basis of a clear benefit to many or resist approval because of the potential for harm to a small number? 3. A new health care financing system is introduced that will provide resources for very high quality care to those who can afford the premiums but it provides very limited access to people on low incomes. Supporting a new system that will clearly benefit many people is a temptation. Do you support the new system or resist on the grounds that it is better to retain lower quality that is accessible to all? 4. A new borne baby is severely deformed and the immediate medical prognosis is a short life and considerable discomfort. Does the medical unit devote valuable time and resources to the baby’s survival, maybe at expense of others cases, or….? 5. You discover that an otherwise high-performing employee in your unit regularly takes materials home from work for personal use, for example printer cartridges or other office materials. He is a temperamental character however and would react very badly to being confronted directly with this issue. There is a critically important departmental deadline to meet that requires everyone’s full attention and commitment. Do you ‘turn a blind eye’ or do you raise the issue as a matter of principle, thereby risking missing the deadline which would reflect badly on all in the unit. 6. A specialist unit with the latest scanning equipment just opened in your hospital but demand from a variety of patients with different illnesses far outstrips available time. How do you decide on priorities in the waiting list? 7. You manage a unit that has functioned well for many years with long-serving and loyal staff who have learned the job over the years but who don’t possess formal technical qualifications. However, new technology is now available that requires only half as many staff to provide the same outcome. You know that buying the new equipment will lead to redundancy and unemployment for many in the unit as new staff with higher technical qualifications will be needed to run the new equipment. Do you remain loyal to the existing employees or do you focus on the economic benefit to the organisation of reducing staffing levels? 8. A cancer patient has been diagnosed with a terminal condition and they also have a weak heart. They ask your staff for information about the prognosis and they refer to you. Your instinct tells you that the truth must prevail but, on the other hand, if the patient panics on hearing the news or even worries then stress will be created and their condition might worsen as a result. What considerations apply here and how will you advise your staff? References P G Northouse textbook, Chapter 16 G Yukl 2006 Leadership in Organisations Chapter 14 Singer P.A. et al 2001 Clinical Ethics Revisited BMC medical Ethics 2:1 (found at the following website) http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6939/2/1/