Introduction

Question 1

current issues contributing to the importance of ethical considerations

Answer 1

• increase in technology
• better informed patients
• public scrutiny
• litigation

Question 2

Potential conflicts

Answer 2

• disagreement over the definition of “benefit” and “harm” between health care providers and patients and families
• and between providers and patients and third party payers

Question 3

medical ethics

Answer 3

• system of moral principles that applies values and judgments to the practice of medicine and addresses:
  
  • the broad ethical principles that impact on patients, clinicians, and healthcare institutions
  • the code of ethics of healthcare providers, first delineated in the Hippocratic oath

Question 4

Oath of Hippocrates - medical ethics

Answer 4

• “primum non nocere” - first do no harm
• always look to the good of the patient
• place a high value on human life
• perform only within one’s training and skill
• refrain from improper relations with patient
• maintain patient’s secrets inviolate
• do not violate community laws or morals

Question 5

“ethics” vs “morality”

Answer 5

• both focus on right and wrong
• differ regarding whether there is: consensus vs. conflict of values, uniform code of behavior, and authoritative sources

Question 6

ethics definition

Answer 6

refer to rules or standards provided by an external source, e.g., professional or workplace codes of conduct or religious principles; in other words the principles of “right conduct” (outside external source)

Question 7

morals definition

Answer 7

refer to an individual’s own principles regarding right and wrong, upon which one’s judgements of right and wrong are based (personal, internal source)

Question 8

ethics

Answer 8

• systematic rules or principles that govern a person’s or group’s behavior, striving for right conduct
• generally without a single accepted code of behavior, or authoritative source
• accepting uncertainty
• aims to transcend the diversity of moral traditions in its response to conflicting beliefs about right and wrong conduct

Question 9

Professional ethics

Answer 9

• the ethical norms, values, and principles that guide a profession and the ethics of decisions made within the profession
• every practitioner, upon entering the health care profession, is invested with the responsibility to adhere to the standards of ethical practice and conduct set by the profession

Question 10

Bioethics

Answer 10

• the ethics of medical and biological research;
• the study of ethical problems arising from biological research and its applications in such fields as organ transplantation, genetic engineering, or artificial insemination

Question 11

“normative” ethics

Answer 11

• an approach that examines or assigns rightness or wrongness to actions
• there are several normative ethical theories that we will examine

Question 12

virtue ethics

Answer 12

focuses on the inherent character of a person rather than on specific actions

Question 13

deontological ethics

Answer 13

• focuses on the status of the action, rule, or disposition itself (has various forms…)
• argues that decisions should be made considering the factors of one’s duties and others’ rights
• includes: Kantianism, contractualism, and natural rights

Question 14

consequentialism

Answer 14

• focuses on the status of the action, rule, or disposition itself (has various forms…)
• argues that the morality of an action is contingent on the action’s outcome or result
• theories include: utilitarianism, ethics of car, pragmatic ethics

Question 15

Kantianism

Answer 15

• type of deontology

- roots morality in humanity’s rational capacity and asserts certain inviolable moral laws

Question 16

Contractualism

Answer 16

• type of deontology

- holds that the moral acts are those that we would all agree to if we were unbiased

Question 17

Natural rights

Answer 17

• type of deontology

- holds that human beings have absolute, natural rights

Question 18

utilitarianism

Answer 18

• type of consequentialism

- holds that an action is right if it leads to the most happiness for the greatest number of people

Question 19

ethics of care

Answer 19

• type of consequentialism
• aka relational ethics
• founded by feminist theorists
• morality arises out of the experiences of empathy and compassion
• emphasizes the importance of interdependence and relationships in achieving ethical goals

Question 20

pragmatic ethics

Answer 20

• type of consequentialism
• moral correctness evolves similarly to scientific knowledge: socially over the course of many lifetimes
• we should prioritize social reform over concern with consequences, individual virtue or duty

Question 21

nonnormative ethics

Answer 21

• simply observes and describes, establishing what factually or conceptually is the case, not what ethically ought to be the case
• two types are descriptive ethics and metaethics

Question 22

descriptive ethics

Answer 22

• type of nonnormative ethics

- simply reports what people believe, how they reason, and how they act

Question 23

metaethics

Answer 23

• type of nonnormative ethics

- analysis of the language, concepts, and methods of reasoning in ethics

Question 24

practical ethics

Answer 24

utilizes the implications of general theories for specific forms of conduct and moral judgment; formerly called applied ethics

Question 25

4 basic principles of medical ethics

Answer 25

autonomy nonmaleficence beneficence justice

Question 26

autonomy

Answer 26

one should respect the right of individuals to make their own decisions

Question 27

nonmaleficence

Answer 27

one should avoid causing harm

Question 28

beneficence

Answer 28

one should take positive steps to help others

Question 29

justice

Answer 29

benefits and risks should be fairly distributed