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Introduction To Ethics and Bioethics

This document provides an introduction to ethics, bioethics, and some key concepts. It discusses that ethics is the study of ideal human behavior and involves theories, approaches, and codes of conduct. It also discusses the difference between ethics and morals, and defines bioethics as the application of ethical principles to healthcare issues. Finally, it outlines some common ethical issues in nursing practice such as respecting patients, treating them with dignity, and supporting their choices.

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150 views20 pages

Introduction To Ethics and Bioethics

This document provides an introduction to ethics, bioethics, and some key concepts. It discusses that ethics is the study of ideal human behavior and involves theories, approaches, and codes of conduct. It also discusses the difference between ethics and morals, and defines bioethics as the application of ethical principles to healthcare issues. Finally, it outlines some common ethical issues in nursing practice such as respecting patients, treating them with dignity, and supporting their choices.

Uploaded by

jsks
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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INTRODUCTION TO

ETHICS AND BIOETHICS


Ethics
Ethics
• Ethics is a branch of philosophy used to study ideal human behavior.

• Ethical determination are applied through the use of theories,


approaches, or codes of conduct.

• Ethics is an active process rather than a static condition.


Doing ethics

• The term doing ethics refers to when people needs to support their beliefs and
assertions with sound reasoning, people use their feelings and emotions in every
day situations but when their emotions are overtake good reasoning , it does not
provide a good foundation for ethics – related decisions.

• So, practice of ethics require a balance of emotion and reason.


Definition of ethics

• The approaches of ethics and the meanings of related concepts have varied over time among
philosophers.

• As a philosophical discipline of study, ethics can be defined as a systematic approach


to understanding, analyzing, and distinguishing matters of right and wrong, good and bad,
on the basis of a body of knowledge, not on the basis of opinions or emotions.
Morals

• As contrasted with ethics, morals are specific beliefs, behaviors and ways of
being derived from doing ethics. These behaviors are in accordance with custom
or tradition and usually reflect personal or religious beliefs.

• One’s morals are judged to be good or bad through systematic ethical analysis.
Immorality

• Immorality, is the reverse of morality, which means a person’s behavior is in


opposition to accept societal, religious, cultural or professional ethical standards

• Examples of immorality: dishonesty, fraud, murder, sexuality abusive acts.


Types of ethical inquiry

• There are three types of ethical inquiry:

Normative Descriptive
Metaethics
ethics ethics
Types of ethical inquiry

• Normative ethics: is an attempt to decide or prescribe values, behaviors and ways of


being that are right or wrong, good or bad, admirable or dishonorable. In this type,
inquiries are made about how human should behave, what to be done in certain
situations.

• Therefore, accepted moral standards and codes are identified.

• The common morality consists of normative beliefs and behaviors that members of
society generally agree.
Types of ethical inquiry

• Metaethics which means about ethics is not an inquiry about what ought to be done or
which behaviors should be prescriped. Instead, metaethics is concerned about
understanding the language of morality through an analysis of the meaning of ethically
related concepts. Such as meaning of good, happiness.

• For example, a nurse who is actively engaged in metaethical analysis might try to
determine the meaning of a good nurse-patient relationship.
Types of ethical inquiry

• Descriptive ethics: referred to as scientific rather than a philosophical ethical inquiry.


It is used by researchers to describe what people think or when they want to describe
how people actually behave.

• An example of descriptive ethics is research that identifies nurses’ attitudes regarding


telling patients the truth about their terminal illness.
VALUES AND MORAL
REASONING

• Values are the personal beliefs about the truth and worth of thoughts, attitudes

rather than behaviors. Values are individual rather than universal.

• Morals are behaviors in accordance with custom or tradition and usually reflect

personal or religious beliefs.


VALUES AND MORAL
REASONING
• Values and moral reasoning in nursing fall under the domain of normative

ethics that is professional values contained in the code guide nurses in how

they ought to be and behave.

• Reasoning is the use of abstract thought processes to think creatively,

answer questions or solve problems.


GUIDELINES FOR ETHICAL REASONING

• Stay open-minded.

• Challenge your own views.

• Challenge the views of others if you disagree with them, but do so


respectfully and considerately.

• Avoid philosophical discussions that can loss the subject's value if it‘s
used as a place to dominate or show off.
Nursing ethics

• Nursing ethics is the system of principles concerning the action of the nurse in
relationships with patients, families, other health care providers, policy makers and
society.

• Bioethics refers to application of general ethical principles to health care.

• Bioethics affects every area of health care as:

• Direct patient care.

• Allocation of finances.

• Utilization of staff.
SIGNIFICANCE OF BIOETHICS TO NURSING

• To enrich and change the direction and content of nursing research.

• To widen the service areas of nursing and change the traditional


image of nurses.

• To establish a new type of relationship between nurse and physician,


nurse and patient.

• To propose a new type view of nursing administration and leadership.

• To change the curriculum design of nursing education.


EXAMPLES OF ETHICAL CARE

• Listening to the patient is more necessary than talking.

• Assessing the client/patient understanding of the illness and available


treatment options.

• Allowing time for the patient to explore values and to communicate


feelings and concerns.

• Facilitating communication of the client's desires to family and other


health care providers.
ETHICAL ISSUES IN NURSING PRACTICE
• Judging what is right or wrong.
• Choosing between options.
• Deciding whether to do something or do nothing.
• Weighing up the potential impact of decisions or actions
• Making a difficult choice or a dilemma.
• Day to day ethical issues can involve:
Respecting people.
Treating people with dignity.
Treating people fairly.
Supporting patient‘s choices.
Bioethics

The term bioethics or health care ethics born out at 1900 which is a specific

domain of ethics focused on moral issues in the field of health care.

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