Ethic Assessment Discussion - Essay Sample

Introduction

Ethics is a description of moral guidelines that direct the behavior of individuals in all situations. Morality is one of the pillars of ethics, whereby individuals subscribe to specific principles; which guide their decisions. When an individual faces a dilemma about whether to follow their ethical choices of other benefits that may not be ethical. That defined a moral dilemma; whereby an individual is faced with two options; an ethical one an unethical decision (Riaz, Bal & WiseDraper, 2016). Both options have benefits that the decision-maker may gain, as well as foregoing another help. Therefore, a person is called on to use their ethical principles to choose their most preferred way. In most cases, when the individual decides to act ethically, they stand to lose some other fortune. The person is therefore encouraged to use critical thinking skills to arrive at the best solution possible.

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Ethical Challenge

An ethical challenge can also be referred to as a moral dilemma; whereby an individual is faced with two opposing choices about an issue. In this case, there is a dilemma regarding the direction to be taken about the organization's operations. One of the options is unethical, whereby clients will be charged for a perimetry exam. The examination is discriminatory because it will be served to older clients over 60 years. The criteria to be used will be age and not the diagnosis of the clients. Therefore, the interests of the examination are financial gains because the costs will be settled through Medicare. As a result of the tests being taken on the clients, the hospital will have additional revenue, which will enable it to retain its employees. However, the practice is illegal because it is a scheme to defraud Medicare based on unnecessary tests on the patients. Therefore, that is an unethical undertaking by the organization in that case. Professional conduct requires that an individual has an ethical and justifiable basis for undertaking their activities. The individual is required to adhere to standard procedures when offering recommendations to clients. However, in this case, the motive is financial gains and not better welfare of the clients.

The other side of the decision that the individual, in this case, can choose to adopt is refusing to take part in the scheme to defraud Medicare of their funds. The employee can choose not to abide by the directive by the manager because it is unethical. However, although the decision is ethical, there is an undesirable effect; whereby the employee and some colleagues may lose their jobs. They will be unemployed, which will compromise the quality of their lives. However, on the other hand, he could choose to cater to the welfare and interests of the manager and fellow employees, although unethically. The employee is therefore faced with a tough choice; whether to act ethically or unethically. Ethical conduct will lead to unemployment, while unethical behavior will enhance job security.

Discussion

The conduct of employees should be guided by ethical principles, which are in line with their professional code of conduct. In this case, the employee should use the first principle of the healthcare code of ethics. The guide proposes that the employees should consider service to clients before material gain. Therefore, the satisfaction of the clients should be done in an ethical manner (Schröder-Bäck et Al., 2014). However, in this case, although the clients may benefit from a free test, the means of securing the test is unethical. The test's motive is not the welfare of the clients; it is the material gain that the hospital will get from Medicare. Thus, the explanation of the tests renders it unethical. The employee should, therefore, not abide by the directives of his employer. There may be an investigation launched into the operations by the organizations, which may unearth the unethical practices. The license of the employee may be revoked, in addition to losing their employment opportunity. Therefore, the employee should use the first principle in the code of conduct to make an ethical decision.

The other principle that comes into play, in this case, is that an employee should serve his employer loyally, honorably discharging the duties and responsibilities entrusted to him. Serving an employer, faithfully involves abiding by their preferences in the organization. However, the directives have to be ethical, in line with the professional code of ethics. In this case, the guidelines are unethical because they are not in line with the client satisfaction motive (Flite & Harman, 2013). Although the employee is required to serve their employer diligently, they should do so ethically. In this case, abiding by their directives amounts to unethical conduct. However, the result of acting ethically, in this case, is unemployment, which compromises the welfare of the employees. However, the employee can consider advising the employer on alternative ethical ways of raising additional revenue. The practices will be ethical and also enhance better service delivery to the clients. In the long run, the employee and employer will stand to benefit from the operating activities without compromising any standards.

Conclusion

An ethical dilemma entails a situation where individuals are faced with a problem that has different outcomes. One of the results is unpleasant and moral, while the other is pleasant but unethical. In this case, the pleasant choice included fraud to Medicare, motivated by the need for additional revenue by the organization's manager. On the contrary, there is the choice of abandoning the suggestion by the manager's recommendation and lose an employment opportunity. Therefore, an employee is required to critically analyze the situation, which will enable them to adopt the best course of action.

References

Flite, C. A., & Harman, L. B. (2013). Code of ethics: principles for ethical leadership. Perspectives in Health Information Management/AHIMA, American Health Information Management Association, 10(Winter). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3544144/

Riaz, M. K., Bal, S., & WiseDraper, T. (2016). The impending financial healthcare burden and ethical dilemma of systemic therapy in metastatic cancer. Journal of surgical oncology, 114(3), 323-328. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jso.24333

Schröder-Bäck, P., Duncan, P., Sherlaw, W., Brall, C., & Czabanowska, K. (2014). Teaching seven principles for public health ethics: towards a curriculum for a short course on ethics in public health programmes. BMC Medical Ethics, 15(1), 73. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1472-6939-15-73