Ethical Issues that Health Care Prof Face Today

Ethics is a branch of philosophy that deals with the set of principles that relates to what is right or wrong in the context of morality. It establishes a code of conduct and a standard of behavior in the society. It serves as a guide to the citizens of the society on how to live life considering what is morally right. In the case of health care professionals, this provides them a guideline in order to analyze important data and create decisions based on what is believed to be morally right.  However, due to the advancement of technology and modernization of health care, it has provided a variety of ethical dilemmas for the part of the health care providers.  

As health care professionals, this group of people is guided by the principle of health promotion and prolongation of life. They are expected to exert an all out effort to provide their patients the utmost comfort that they deserve and to preserve their lives as much as possible. They are obliged by the law and by the principle moral philosophy to provide to all of their patients the quality of care to the best of their abilities. In addition, they are obliged to respect the choices and preferences of their patients and this also includes their choice to meet death peacefully with human dignity. Furthermore, health care professionals are expected to cater for their patients’ needs and to treat them as equal individuals regardless of gender, race, socioeconomic status in the society, citizenship, and choice of religion. This is due to the fact any form of bias or perhaps prejudice and even any form of discrimination must never be present in the world of health care. Being health care professionals are probably one of the most difficult jobs in the world because they are dealing with the lives of their patients. One faulty error could create a number of complications to the health of a patient. One wrong move could determine the length of existence of an individual. And ultimately, one costly mistake could result to the death of an individual. For these reasons, it is imperative for a health care professional to maintain a level of skill and expertise that is above the required level of competency. Not only that, a health care professional must also be updated with the current trends in health care today. He or she must always be updated and stay informed with the latest news about health for any changes in the scope of practice. As we all know, change is the only permanent thing in this world. In the case of health care, any change must always be for the better and each patient has the right to receive the highest possible quality of care from all health care providers. The importance of continuing education is very essential to achieve and maintain a competent level of knowledge and skill for the part of health care providers.

The ethical issues and dilemmas that health care professionals face today are dramatically increasing. This makes the profession a lot more challenging and at the same time very difficult to handle. One of the dilemmas would probably be the issue about euthanasia, or what we call mercy-killing. It created a lot of buzzes in the health care sector and even in the religious sector of the society. Whether this is right or wrong, this issue remains up to now very controversial. Another would be the cloning of human beings. Is it considered a scientific breakthrough in today’s modern era or an experiment that is wrong in the context of moral philosophy? This is one of the  controversial ethical dilemmas that health care providers face today. Only God has the power and right to create the human race according to the belief of the church. However, is cloning really a violation of this belief despite  its potential promise? Another scenario is the usage of an aborted fetus in the name of scientific research. Does this experiment create a violation to the right of life? Possibly, yes but putting consideration into the fact of the promise it makes especially in the field of research makes it much more controversial.

Therefore, as heath care professionals, they must be sensitive to ethical issues and dilemmas in today’s society. Being aware of cultural differences and individual beliefs will help them provide a better quality of service to the people in the society.