Codes of Ethics in All Health and Allied-health Professionals.

Codes of Ethics in All Health and Allied-health Professionals.

Introduction

In the United States, there are more than five million allied health care professionals who perform their tasks in 80 different health fields, which represent an estimate of 60% of all health care providers. The allied-health experts play a pivotal role in delivering services about the identification, evaluation, diseases and disorder stoppage, dietary and nutrition amenities, rehabilitating, and managing health structures Saxon et al., (2014). According to the Association of Schools of Allied-health Professionals, realized that the number of allied-health caregivers in the health care industry was going to grow exponentially up-to-date. As a result, creating solid grounds for such professionals to collaborate boldly with other health care providers such as doctors, nurses a set of codes of ethics was critical valuable (Dahnke, 2014). Since the individuals play a vital role in evaluating and assessing the patient’s requirements as well as informing physicians on patient’s progress, setting codes of ethics that guide them all through the profession was expressively imperative.

In all health and allied health professionals are primarily steadfast to excellence in the practice of promoting health all jurisdiction in the community, guided by the conventional values within the professional field. Codes of ethics mainly give such health practitioners the shape and structure of the moral environment and make summaries of professional positions (Dahnke, 2014). The guiding codes in the medical field are not optional; they are critical and integral parts of the health care industry that should be positive welcomes, but the role and limitations of the same need to be recognized in the health system.

Guiding Codes of Ethics

The codes of ethics in all health and allied-health they ground a stable framework of shared values with the health practice. The fundamental elements such as respect for autonomy, social justice promotion, practical promotion of sound as well as harm dodging are underlined in all health care structures (Dahnke, 2014). Irrespective of the job status, professional affiliation, work environment, the population served when making decision health professionals; they have to follow a stipulated code of ethics.

In the line of offering allied-health services, the Federal Codes in the United States have categorically stipulated what is requires to such professionals. Under the health care industry, they serve the conventional codes of ethics include; responsibility to the public. As a professional in allied-health, it is critical to offer to the public the importance of promoting, maintaining, and improving individual, family, and community health Saxon et al., (2014). For example, in the case of disease outbreak, the allied health professionals should make alerts, collaborate with other health practitioners to come up with the remedy to control or prevent the emergency. As such, it will promote wellness, quality of living due to self –courage, and freedom of choice. Secondly, the allied-health experts are guided by the responsibility to the profession. All the professionals in the field are supposed to be responsible for their deeds, reputation, and promote ethical behavior among themselves (Dahnke, 2014). For example, article 11 in section 3, primarily encourages the acceptance of vital discourse to protect and enhance the profession. The other guideline bounding allied-health professionals is responsibility in research and evaluation. When the study and assessment are conducted, such experts are supposed to abide by federal and state laws, organizational, firm policies, and experts’ standards to realize topnotch results for the health industry.  The responsibility to offer a health education is significantly emphasized that abide with respects to individual rights, dignity, and confidentiality.  As such, permit thorough and careful preparation, which present accurate materials that are updated and timely for timely feedback, expectations, and conduct a fair assessment regarding a particular public health-related issue.

Codes of ethics that surround the profession, the communities, and the entire health industry are critical to all health professionals in all health and allied health sector. The first importance is that codes of ethics inspire and offer guidance through the provision of positive stimulus for ethical conduct (Dahnke, 2014). For example, the American Medical Association Codes of Medical Ethics are structured in a way that ideals and commitments are foregrounded and outlined in the section of Principles of Medical Ethics. Another importance of codes is they give support, deterrence, and discipline. This is through professionals acting ethically due to the grounded codes of ethics that offers limits. The laws also provide the basis for investigating an unethical practice, which later includes prudence as a motive for acting morally (Dahnke, 2014). Thirdly, education, and mutual understanding is significantly offered by codes among professionals. As such, a suitable platform is realized that is meant to provide high-quality care through determining, evaluating, and providing other critical services in the health care industry. Through codes of ethics in the healthcare industry professionals, public image is maintained as an ethically guided field or practice, which also allows sharing of the standards.

From other Codes of Ethics, especially in Nursing, under provision 4, nurses have authority, accountability, and responsibility for nursing practices, make on-point decisions, and take the required with the obligation to provide high-quality care Kangasniemi et al., (2015). In allied-health professionals, they have worked under strict supervision to minimize the risks associated, such as malpractice. The other area that they are limited is that allied-health experts have to collaborate with other organizations to accomplish their intended aim Saxon et al., (2014). For example, after assessing a particular patient’s needs, they have to inform other health professionals such as physicians to address the health-related problem and incorporate appropriate intervention. Ultimately, the codes of ethics seem to form inter-relation, such as respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and uniqueness attributes for every individual (Pozgar, 2012). Other codes such as collaborations, responsibility to promote health safety, and preservation of character integrity, maintaining professionalism, and continuous personal and professional growth are conventional.

In course work, several ethical principles have been mentioned regarding codes of ethics that play a critical role whenever a medical practitioner or any other expert working in the health industry is inevitable faces complications with patients. The principle of justice that stipulate of elements of fairness concerning medical decisions. Justice through integrity should be distributed equally to scare resources with medical professionals abiding by applicable laws and legislation when making important decisions (Pozgar, 2012). Other principles are the principle of beneficence and non-maleficence. Beneficence argues that health caregivers must exercise their profession to benefits the clients they serve in each situation. In non-maleficence the health caregivers, they should ensure no harm at all cost and must consider any associated impact on other individuals and the society in general.

Conclusion

In summation, codes of ethics play a critical role in a given profession, especially in all health and allied health professionals. Laws have proved to create solid grounds for inspiration and guidance, support, deterrence, and discipline, as well as offer education and mutual understanding. As such, it becomes a significant value to both the health care service providers and the client they serve for both parties to act ethically. The principles that govern particular codes of ethics should be crafted in a manner they serve across the intended purposes without any discrimination facets. Through acting ethically through following a stipulated procedure, several inferior consequences such as malpractice and accidents have significantly been avoided. Therefore, a particular profession must have a well -structured rules codes that allow experts to act ethically to prevent the risks and challenges associated.

References

Dahnke, M. D. (2014). Utilizing codes of ethics in health professions education. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 19(4), 611-623. doi:10.1007/s10459-013-9484-2

Kangasniemi, M., Pakkanen, P., & Korhonen, A. (2015). Professional ethics in nursing: an integrative review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 71(8), 1744-1757. doi:10.1111/jan.12619

Pozgar, G. D. (2012). Legal and Ethical Issues for Health Professionals. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Saxon, R., Gray, M., & Oprescu, F. (2014). Extended roles for allied health professionals: an updated systematic review of the evidence. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare, 479. doi:10.2147/jmdh.s66746