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HCM 523 Wk I Post

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HCM 523 Wk I Post

Healthcare professionals need a foundation in ethical theory to be effective. This is

because ethics provides moral guidance and projection to healthcare professionals in which way

they are supposed to treat their patients and interact with the wider healthcare environment. For

instance, ethical principles guide healthcare professionals in decision making when dealing with

critical decision dilemmas with a patient (Haddad & Geiger, 2018). Therefore, ethics theory has

a greater correlation with healthcare professionals as they are bound to adhere to these principles

and theories in managing their patients.

In this regard, healthcare professionals have significant ethical responsibilities to their

clients. These include obeying their autonomy, the patient's right to make sound decisions on

their preferred treatment approach. When it comes to their medical treatment, people have the

freedom to make their own decisions, free from the influence of their doctors or other health care

providers (Haddad & Geiger, 2018). Patient autonomy allows health care practitioners to educate

the patient, but it does not enable the health care provider to make the patient's choice on their

behalf. Healthcare professionals also have an obligation to do what is best for their patients,

encompassed under the umbrella of beneficence. Lastly, they are also obligated to obey the

ethical projection of nonmaleficence which requires them to ensure no harm to patients and that

all patients are served justly (Olejarczyk & Young, 2021).

Patients have the right to autonomy and justice. This means that patients in a medical

context have several crucial safeguards, including the right to care and the freedom to refuse
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treatment (Olejarczyk & Young, 2021). Patients have the right to expect some fundamental

standards of behavior from their medical providers and the organizations and individuals that

stand behind them (Olejarczyk & Young, 2021). Therefore, all these must be obeyed by the

providers to ensure adherence from both the healthcare provider's end and the patient's end.
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References

Haddad, L. M., & Geiger, R. A. (2018). Nursing ethical considerations.

https://europepmc.org/article/nbk/nbk526054

Olejarczyk, J. P., & Young, M. (2021). Patient Rights And Ethics. In StatPearls [Internet].

StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538279/