A set of guidelines called medical ethics applies moral standards to the conduct of clinical studies and therapeutic practices. It covers many topics, including end-of-life care, reproductive issues, and human subject research. The field is constantly evolving as our understanding of medical science grows.
Each day society grapples with new ethical dilemmas. As a result, when writing an essay on medical ethics, it can be challenging to know where to start. By studying the field, you will develop the ability to think critically about complicated moral issues and to communicate your ideas persuasively. Check out our essay samples on medical ethics to improve your paper and your ability to make sound decisions in your life.
Confidentiality is a sensitive issue commonly addressed in terms of the provision of health care. This aspect is specifically relevant in addiction counseling that is associated with sensitive information and the need to solve ethical dilemmas. On the one hand, the counselor is obliged to act in the best interest...
The doctrine of informed consent is essential as it upholds the legal and ethical perspective in the treatment. It helps in the protection of the patient’s interest by giving the patient the legal authority to make decisions that relate to the treatment. In addition, the doctrine underpins the medical practice...
I think ethical committee findings should be made known to the public. There is a need to discourage unethical people from practicing as well as to caution the public on the same. Other practicing professions would learn to respect their clients and exercise maximum precaution. Having the findings made public...
The phenomenon of genetically modified humans is already the reality in modern society, enabled by the emergence of technologies to modify reproductive cells and embryos that bear a genetic ancestry. However, such enormous scientific progress promotes the framework for questions concerning the legislative perspective and its recognition of this technological...
Ethics is a significant phenomenon in health care because it is a medical professionals’ requirement to serve others and meet their needs. Doctorally prepared advanced practice nurses should also follow moral guidelines to ensure that they contribute to achieving better patient outcomes. Furthermore, the ethical behavior of such nurses can...
To deliver quality and affordable medical services, governments and politicians introduce various healthcare policies and reforms. One of such significant and wide-ranging reforms was the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010, which, already from its enactment, has caused fierce and long-term debates. This paper aims at discussing...
The Hippocratic Oath is an oath by medics and young specialists ready to take up their duties. The text establishes the ethical principles of behavior of the prospective specialist. However, the Hippocratic Oath in its original form has long since been disused. Many matters of the document no longer have...
Kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning can be applied to health care practice for providing patients with high-quality and ethical medical services and identifying the mechanisms through which doctors can make the most appropriate ethical decisions in their professional practice. According to Kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning, an individual can pass...
Nurse’s primary responsibility consists in ensuring emotional, psychological, and physical wellness of patients with regard to the peculiarities of their cultural and social backgrounds. Nurses should be fully committed to the duties they have in front of the managerial staff and patients. Proving high-quality healthcare services should ensure social wellbeing...
Each hospital has a unique set of goals, objectives, and philosophy, which are shaped with regard both internal and external processes. At this point, considering outside influences is vital because external competition has a direct impact on the quality of healthcare. This is of particular concern to patients’ social and...
Morality refers to the principal’s of determining the behavior and appropriate conduct in a setting. Each profession has its own ethics. Ethics are vital for healthcare leadership and require two areas of focus, biomedical ethics and managerial ethics. Biomedical ethics is concerned with the way a health care professional should...
Ethical conduct is an essential part of high-quality nursing care. According to Haddad and Geiger, ethical principles in medicine are meant to ensure that practitioners are committed to the well-being of patients (individuals, communities, and the population as a whole). While such ethical principles as accountability and beneficence seem clear...
Introduction Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is a topic that has ignited a relentless debate because of the argument that surrounds its execution. Assisted suicide happens when a patient shows his or her intention to die and appeals to a doctor to help him or her in this process. The recent advancement...
The health of humanity is the most valuable and important aspect of the life of modern society. Its preservation and strengthening are considered the primary tasks of countries around the world. In this process, an important role belongs to such medical specialists as nurses. This work requires performing tasks on...
Introduction Ethical dilemmas often arise in the medical field, and they necessitate the application of bioethical principles. The bioethical dilemma in this case is whether Jason, who has intellectual and developmental disabilities, should be allowed to donate a kidney to his elder brother, Terrence. There are potential risks and benefits...
Introduction Nowadays, many situations occur when healthcare professionals have to make difficult decisions according to various ethical principles, which is not always straightforward due to the specificity of the medical care field. The corresponding difficulties can be exceptionally sharp within the critical care setting because treating patients with life-threatening illnesses...
Introduction Research on humans is integral for progress in different disciplines, including medicine, psychology, and sociology. However, such studies should take into account the ethical dimensions for conducting an experiment. In addition, proper procedures should be followed to ensure that the outcome is justifiable and upholds the dignity of participants...
Fraud and Abuse Fraud and abuse in the healthcare sector include the acts of healthcare providers that are deemed to have defrauded the healthcare facilities, and government or abused the right to bill for services rendered. However, the distinction between fraud and abuse is never clear. The degree of intent...
Ethics is one of the most important parts of the healthcare industry, and every medical worker must understand what role ethical principles take and why they are crucial in this sphere. Ethics is closely related to morality and the choices that greatly impact doctors’ and patients’ lives. This term usually...
Treatment withdrawal is common in critical care, where patients get exhausted with interventions that do not lead to improvement or recovery. While both healthcare providers and patients can choose to stop the therapy, the decision is challenging following the impact of legal and ethical principles (Lyu & Zhang, 2018, p....
In the time of globalization and active international cooperation, concerns about human health status around the globe have become a pertinent issue. Specifically created United Nations’ agency called the World Health Organization (WHO) is in charge of monitoring health and health care related issues around the globe through local departments....
Introduction The nursing profession imposes various moral obligations upon practitioners since it often includes interactions with vulnerable members of society. This statement may sound pretentious, but sometimes nurses have to deal with matters of life and death. As a result, their decisions may make the difference between the former and...
Health care, in general, is a complicated field that involves making informed decisions, choices, and options on how to handle situations when faced by them, whether individually or when with the clients and their families. Nurses worldwide experience many ethical challenges when offering patient care, and in many cases, they...
The case study presents an ethical dilemma in healthcare provision. It accounts for an older man named R.L. who had several conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, and kidney problems. His doctor noticed that he had reduced enthusiasm for activities he previously enjoyed and diagnosed him with depression. Soon afterward, he...
Introduction The ethical decision-making model has guidelines that help nurses make up-to-date decisions while evaluating the consequences. Medical practitioners encounter ethical dilemmas daily in the fast-growing medical field. Therefore, ethical principles are crucial in clinical practice, especially when nurses must make informed decisions about their clients’ healthcare and note the...
Health promotion is basically the process through which people are empowered to increase control over their health while enhancing quality of life. According to Taylor et al. (2020), the 1986 Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion was a landmark document which laid out a concise statement of actions that healthcare practitioners...
Any healthcare organization has a set of ethics that determines its values, employee conduct, patient treatment, and other moral aspects. For instance, such statements as respect for one’s culture or the promise of a safe environment may be considered while compiling the code (Pozgar, 2014). Those should not be empty...
Introduction Ethics are essential in nursing to help nurses navigate through dilemmas and focus on patients’ positive outcomes. The medical field is complex with challenging decisions that compete with self, organizational, and patient interests. Nurses are patient advocates and must balance ethics and values to satisfy patient needs. Ethics helps...
The main problem that can be reported when nurses use social media is the violation of patients’ rights regarding privacy, anonymity, and confidentiality. If nurses use social media to publish different types of content and share the details of their nursing practice, there is a high risk that they will...
The contentious issue is whether to put Jennie on a feeding machine or not. Jennie is a 76-year-old patient with hypertension, diabetes, and stroke. She is a mother to Mary. Jennie is incapable of caring for herself because of her health status. Mary took her to St Francis nursing center...
Euthanasia is an ethically doubtful issue as one never knows whether his/her actions devoted to saving a life of a person are going to be effective or not. For example, considering two cases where people were dramatically injured in tragic events, one of them was left alive and another one...
Introduction Human decisions are influenced by socio-cultural and economic factors occurring in our daily lives. Determining ethical choices is considered a personal decision impacted by individual beliefs. This discussion aims to analyze the moral justifications of George’s decision for voluntary euthanasia (Grudem, 2020). The case study presented proves that he...
Abstract The main aim of this study is to explore the advantages and disadvantages of stem cell technology and ethical considerations. Stem cell technology is considered a breakthrough in the field of medical science. However, the use of stem cell technology has faced high criticism because of the use of...
Introduction Every organization tends to have its own ethical issues. Moreover, health care organizations face more ethical issues than most organizations. This happens because nursing roles in health organizations overlap. In addition, health care settings require professionals to work as a team. Teamwork requires patience and commitment. Ethical standards are,...
Introduction Decisions making is one of the activities constantly undertaken by professionals in the health care sector. Unlike in most of the other fields, these professionals sometimes do not have the time or resources necessary to deliberate on the action to take. To assist in this task of decision-making, health...
The issue of euthanasia is considered an ethical dilemma because this problem has no satisfactory solutions. All the possible solutions can be discussed as exclusive and morally right or wrong when they are analyzed from different perspectives (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2008, p. 90-96). Euthanasia is prohibited in relation to the...
Introduction In health law, it is vital for the patient to be fully informed of the tests and treatments to be administered. The medical practitioner attending to the patient is supposed to disclose all the necessary information concerning the medical condition of the patient and the appropriate tests and treatments...
The Ethical Implications of a Breach of Confidentiality According to Lawrence (2007, p. 36), “patient confidentiality is critical in every nursing practice”. This fact explains why “caregivers should understand the circumstances and situations under which confidentially can be broken” (Purtilo & Doherty, 2011, p. 39). Patient confidentiality is critical because...
Introduction Introduction and Background of the Problem The twenty first century has seen tremendous improvements in medical science and health care in the society. This has been marked by discovery of new drugs and improvement of existing ones, together with adoption of new medical practices to care for patients. This...
Problem Statement Twelve out of 10,000 women who undergo a hysterectomy die of complications arising from the procedure. Due to the high mortality associated with this procedure, women should only undergo hysterectomies in life-threatening cases like uncontrollable bleeding, complications arising from childbirth, and severe infections. Approximately 90% of hysterectomy cases...
Researches and practices in the medical field unveil new drugs, forms of treatment, and disease prevention measures. The science behind the trial of new techniques in medical procedures, including the use of new drugs, encounters a lot of challenges today. Any discovery has to be tested to ascertain the impact...
In this work, the advantages and disadvantages of places for the dying of ill people, precisely a home and a hospital, are considered. Dying is a physically and psychologically stressful process that significantly affects both a terminally ill person and his or her family and loved ones. In addition, the...
In the United States, the number of opioid abusers is approximately 2.5 million people, and it has been constantly growing within recent decades, as the number of new abusers grew by a striking 225 percent between 1992 and 2000 (Lembke, 2012). Opioid abusers are people who consume opioids in dangerous...
Introduction This paper is aimed at discussing the practices of counselors who are specialized in working with people struggling with various disabilities. These days, in the United States, about 50 million people suffer from some physical or mental problems (Cornish et al. 488). Many of them may require the services...
Introduction Physician assisted suicide refers to the act of providing information to a competent patient with a sole purpose of assisting the patient end his or her life. The physician administers equipment or prescription for medication at the request of the patient with an intention of ending the patient’s life....
Introduction / Background In the recent period, the science of transplantation has become a unique treatment approach for the potential life threatening complications. As it involves the surgical replacement of body parts with the functionally superior ones, the major task since the past decade has been to procure significant number...
Introduction Ethical issues mainly refer to what is right and good in a society. It deals with learning virtues and vices in a society. The society acts as a determiner or rather the judge determining the good and right doings of an individual. Once an individual learns the ethnics of...
Abortion is morally wrong and the members of society do not seem to agree with this statement. This is because the philosophers have not done enough to convince the people that the act is morally wrong. Philosophers have moved to the secular world and they give support to what the...
Introduction Abortion is a controversial topic because it deals with the question of human life and death. There are no contemporary ethical issues so emotionally charged and inviting of public, political, legal and moral controversy as those involving matters of life and death. Abortion is one such ethical issue and...
Abortion has developed into a very controversial topic over these past few decades. Abortion is defined as “the expulsion of a fetus from the uterus before it has reached the stage of viability, in human beings, usually about the 20th week of gestation. An abortion may occur unexpectedly, in which...
Introduction In a rather busy hospital near a slum, I work as medical personnel. Numerous patients report to the hospital day in day out. Various conditions are presented including serious illnesses that require dedicated attention on the patient besides carrying out a follow-up on the progress. Professional ethics At work,...
Reasons against Euthanasia Several people have argued for the legalization of euthanasia which very few countries in the world have done. The question that keeps coming up in this debate is that is euthanasia suicidal or is it murder. The law states that suicide is legal and murder is illegal....
Abstract summary Ethics is defined as the norms or standards of behavior that guide moral choices about the conduct of the personnel in any organization and this case we will therefore be able to look at the conduct of the doctors in relation with their patients. From this study we...
Introduction The case study highlights how Christian beliefs and medical ethics determine the moral status of a fetus. In the case study, preliminary diagnosis outcomes show the fetus has a rare development condition because it has no arms, and prognosis indicates the probable occurrence of Down syndrome. In this view,...
End-of-life care pertains to the regulation of an individual’s immediate environment by implementing measures that would augment the level of care to the individual as he approaches death. End-of-life care may not be defined by a specific duration but through the kind of care that is provided to an individual....
Introduction If you were terminally ill, and knew one was only to get worse, would one not rather have a quick, easy and painless death in a manner and at a time of one’s own choice for which one could be fully prepared than a few more weeks, months or...
Stem cells are the basic units from which the entire body of a human being develops. In other words, these are a group of cells from which all 210 diverse types of tissue such as muscle cells, blood cells, nerve cells, and even new teeth in the human body originate...
The debate over Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS) is complex and contentious. Since ancient times, there have been arguments about the permissibility of suicide, assisted suicide, and physician-assisted suicide. (Kopelman, DeVille, pp 1). The discussions have covered the properly legal, ethical, or professional response of the people who feel that they are...
Introduction One of the most primary preferences in life is whether a couple wants to have offspring. This choice obliges many females who are not prepared to have children to face the verdict of abortion. Abortion is an appealing subject because it entails consequences that are societal, religious, political, lawful,...
The idea of physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia raises a number and disputes and disagreements in regards to whether a person or their immediate family members should have the right to choose medically aided death. As it stands, current clinical practice, ethical, and legal practices leave decisions regarding medically assisted death...
Health care professionals experience different ethical dilemmas and challenges that can affect their aims. Caregivers, physicians, and clinicians who are aware of such issues can find it easier to implement evidence-based measures to overcome them. This paper gives a detailed analysis and description of the responses gained after interviewing a...
The Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) of Georgia is responsible for providing support and assistance for children in need living in the state while following the legal norms and standards. It is important to analyze an ethical situation related to the DFCS’s activities according to the ETHIC Decision-Making...
Introduction Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) hold an enormous amount of potential to unlock many mysteries of the human body, as well as treat or prevent illnesses. Yet, despite the potential benefits of studying this issue, there is strong opposition to it. The primary argument against hESC research is that...
Introduction According to Mike Pence (n.d.), “adult stem cell research has produced some 67 medical miracles” over the last couple of years. The method is derived from the usage of cells retrieved from embryos that are in the capacity of forming one of the different types of tissues in the...
Introduction The debates regarding euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide continue to take different shapes or routes. There are professionals and stakeholders who support these practices while others condemn them. The nature of such arguments hold implications for the achievements and procedures medical practitioners require to provide critical care. This paper describes...
Introduction Occupational therapy (OT) is a practice that implies the use of multiple assessment methods and interventions for developing, recovering, and maintaining meaningful activities for work among individuals, groups, and even communities. Those who required occupational therapy have usually undergone illness, injury, or have developed a disability that prevents them...
Introduction Abortion is a medical term that describes the termination of pregnancy. The issue of reporting activist actions and legal acts that aim to change abortion regulation is complex since this topic is controversial. Some people advocate for a woman’s right to make conscious decisions regarding her pregnancy, while others...
Introduction Human beings belong to specific cultural groups, religions, and societies that promote unique values and attitudes. These attributes influence the thoughts patients to develop throughout the care delivery process. People from different regions or races will consider specific principles that inform their decisions regarding the effectiveness of various clinical...
Errors and accidents can happen in virtually any type of workplace. However, in the field of healthcare, a wrong action may lead to devastating outcomes, damaging patients or workers’ well-being. Thus, all medical professionals need to understand that the process of error reporting is an essential part of their practice...
Introduction Nurses can make errors during their practice for different reasons – the lack of attention or time, tiredness, and stress. These mistakes can be small or substantial, potentially affecting patient’s health and hurting their well-being. Thus, if a nurse makes a mistake, their following actions are significant in resolving...
Discussions about whether or not the implementation of the legal market of human organs should take place have a considerable number of involved scholars and stakeholders. Scholars’ works cover a plethora of aspects within the scope of the issue. However, there is a distinguishable split in the academic dimension about...
Introduction The article, “Why Medical Professionals have no Moral Claim to Conscientious Objection Accommodation in Liberal Democracies” by Udo Schuklenk and Ricardo Smalling presents critical arguments that different stakeholders in the field of medicine should examine from an informed perspective. The authors begin by explaining why clinicians should be aware...
Introduction Counseling is associated with various ethical issues that may lead to adverse effects for the client, the counselor, or a third party. Informed consent is often regarded as a method to address many problems closely linked to such areas as confidentiality, clients’ safety, and well-being, as well as other...
Introduction to the client situation Borrowing from the film The Suicide Tourist, one of the hardest things to do is to counsel a terminally ill patient. As Dierickx, Deliens, Cohen, and Chambaere (2017) note, many terminally ill patients often request to be euthanized. Many US states do not allow euthanasia...
Family plays an important role in every aspect of a person’s life including healthcare. On the one hand, the family can provide the necessary support for patients and have a positive impact on treatment compliance, which is frequently used as a tool of impact on the patients’ decision by healthcare...
Introduction Abortion is a controversial topic in numerous parts of the world. Concerns exist over the procedure’s safety and potential risks, but they are not significant enough to affect its popularity or legality noticeably. Most of the world’s governments, including that of the United States, permit the performance of the...
The identified case involves a patient who has a “Do Not Resuscitate” tattoo. The 70-year old individual has a history of atrial fibrillation, diabetes mellitus, and obstructive pulmonary disease. The efforts practitioners undertook to increase his consciousness level were unsuccessful, thereby being unable to engage in meaningful discussions regarding the...
The debate around abortion and its legal and ethical properties have been dominating the spheres of medicine and law for many decades. The supporters of abortion legalization refer to the omnipresence of such procedures in all countries regardless of their legality, and the illegal methods of pregnancy termination are hazardous....
The term beneficence implies all forms of actions aiming at contributing to persons’ welfare. The principles of beneficence appear to be different from those of nonmaleficence. Beneficence requires taking positive actions to help others, whereas nonmaleficence means avoidance of causing harm. It is also necessary to differentiate the concept of...
The topics of death and terminal illness are difficult to discuss, especially for those who are personally affected by this tragedy. On Death and Dying by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and The Illness Narratives by Arthur Kleinman shed light on the problems that individuals, who know that there are dying, have to...
Medical practice includes some issues that concern professional and other responsibilities, for instance, adherence to medical ethics. Those duties that the healthcare sector employees are to perform imply following the standards of assistance to the population while taking into account certain norms and principles, one of which is the concept...
Most people who are suddenly faced with a serious illness find themselves completely unprepared, and they do not know how to go on with their lives. The Wounded Storyteller by Arthur Frank is a book that uses the author’s personal experience with cancer and heart disease to show a different...
Autonomy in biomedical research and medicine is a key ethical principle that should be considered by patients, participants of studies, and medical workers. This is important because, in some cases, individuals have less autonomy that needs an in-depth examination. Respect for an individual’s freedom requires one to accept the right...
Introduction Respect for autonomy is among the primary moral principles governing medical research and decision-making in healthcare. Autonomy is defined as the freedom to work following a self-established plan. This paper seeks to comprehensively summarize the concept of autonomy in healthcare and research and identify the factors affecting it. The...
Introduction Issues associated with death are usually emotive and controversial. Both physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia are pursued with the aim of relieving terminal pain or suffering. Individuals suffering from various conditions such as cancer tend to be in need of high-quality palliative care. Opioids are usually prescribed to minimize various...
Social media offers a convenient platform where people can connect with friends and family. It also makes the world a global village where people enjoy interconnectedness regardless of time and space. In learning, students can communicate easily with each other and discuss important issues concerning their education (Tuckett & Turner,...
Sometimes, professionals and administrators in different fields need to have a distinction between ethics and codes of conduct during the conduct of their work. Codes of ethics are very vital in a situation such as health administration where much could go awry if proper morals and codes of conduct are...
Proposal In this paper, I will argue that abortion is morally permissible and the argument on the immorality of abortion is essentially untenable. The essay will utilize the views of several authors who have contributed to the topic in the recent past. Most of these views are published in books...
Introduction The institutionalization of healthcare is a major source of ethical conflicts. When looking at ethics, we consider the question; what do we owe to the other person? Today, healthcare management is an arrangement among the following groups: consumers or the patients, the providers who are the physicians and other...
Summary The video Euthanasia considers the ethical issue from the point of view of the law, ethics, religion, and philosophy. It does not appear to take a stance, but it portrays euthanasia as a phenomenon that is unlikely to disappear. The film offers a comprehensive overview of various attitudes as...
Introduction Assisted suicide denotes measures by which a person or a group of people assist another person to voluntary bring about his or her own death. It may also describe how a doctor helps a terminally ill person to die. Assisted suicide In many cultures, suicide has remained the best...
Introduction The cloning process is a successful scientific practice especially when scientists in Scotland managed to clone a mammal. Indeed, the process is simple that provided a possibility to clone a human being. Nevertheless, there have been ethical issues concerning whether human cloning could be officially authorized or not. Moreover,...
Ethics in Your Work Place Ethics refers to the code of conduct that governs the activities or behavior of professionals in a given field or employees in a given organization (Seth, 2010). The code of conduct is usually set by the organization or the regulating body in the profession. Ethics...
Medication errors are the medical errors related to prescription of drugs and other medications. Despite many interventions aimed at reducing their incidence in diverse settings, medication errors are still a burden to health care. However, the majority of adverse events related to medication errors can be prevented in case of...
The nursing practice is guided by strict codes of ethics which promote beneficence and protect the patient. These standards, often legally supported, provide a framework which the nurses use to provide ethical and professional care. However, the complexities of the healthcare system and patient demands may create morally ambiguous situations...
Introduction Ross, Fitzpatrick, Click, Krouse, and Clavelle (2014) point out that there is a need for resilient and proficient nursing leadership that fosters organizational and personal change. Nurses’ role in making ethical, legal, and moral decisions is crucial as they are the first people with whom individuals can discuss their...
Introduction Ethics in medical professionals is guided by different standards. These principles include justice, beneficence, and autonomy. The widely used conceptual framework is that of utilitarianism (Cherkowski, Walker, & Kutsyuruba, 2015). This moral law dictates that good actions are the ones that maximize happiness. The above principles will also be...
Introduction The use of appropriate leadership strategies delivers desirable results promptly. Different theoretical concepts in organizational leadership support the power of ethical, moral, and legal practices. Ethical and moral standards in an organization foster evidence-based practices such as collaboration, teamwork, and support (Ericsson & Augustinsson, 2015). The targeted legal standards...
Introduction Emergencies often require timely and valid decisions to prevent the apparent risk to patient health, including death. However, the policies and protocols intended to systematize the decision-making process often create complex ethical and moral issues. The following paper highlights the ethical issues in the emergency setting and outlines the...