2 Responsible and Ethical Conduct

Be a Person with Integrity and Strong Ethics

Ethical Responsibilities in Health Care

• Confidentiality
• Commitment to quality
• Consideration of employer’s and College’s reputation

Why Be Ethical?

As a member of the health care team, you have a responsibility to:

• Your profession: to uphold excellence in all clinical and administrative duties.
• The public: to practice in a competent, responsible, and respectful manner.
• Your employer: to be faithful, accountable, and adhere to the principles of the workplace.
• Your colleagues: to recognize their rights and treat them as you want to be treated.

Why Do Employees Do Unethical Things?

• Lack of integrity
• Job dissatisfaction-employees feel they are overworked or underpaid (they feel they will get their money’s worth one way or another, so they make long-distance calls at work, take home supplies, etc.)
• Financial reward-make a little extra money by padding expenses
• Pressure to meet goals
• May not know or understand the code of conduct

Follow Through on What You Say

Be a person of your word. If you can be relied on to do what you say you will do, an employer will eventually see you as their go-to person (Mind Tools Content Team, n.d.). When your words match your behaviours, it makes it easier for an employer to trust you, and they will ultimately be more likely to recommend, praise, and invest in you. On the contrary, not actively following through on what you say can paint an employer a negative picture of you; they may assume you are undependable or even uninterested in the job.

Be Honest and Own Your Mistakes

It’s not the end of the world if you make a mistake on the job, it just makes you human. The worst thing to do is to lie about it. If you take responsibility for your mistakes and avoid making excuses, it will show a great deal of maturity (Half, 2016). Employers will appreciate your honesty and your ability to handle a situation like this. If you show them that you’re willing to learn the proper way to do something and to avoid this happening again in the future, you will be more likely to build a trusting relationship (Piccirilli, 2018).

Be Self-Motivated

Just like many workplaces, health and wellness workplaces are busy and employers value employees who can work with little-to-no supervision. This type of person sees what needs to be done and does it. They never sit idle and find ways to keep themselves busy by helping their colleagues or catching up on work that was left undone.

Be Visible, Show Initiative, and Offer to Help

Take opportunities to volunteer for upcoming projects or committees. The more visible you are in the work activities you’re taking part in, the more valuable you will be seen to your employer. Likewise, employers appreciate when employees offer to help and recognize when something needs to be done without having to tell them to do it (Half, 2016). Look for opportunities to show your initiative by doing something you think may be helpful for the company, to improve a process, or assist a colleague, and your employer is guaranteed to be impressed.

Chapter Review

Try this quiz to check your learning.

Image Descriptions

Figure 1 This SmartArt graphic indicates four practical steps to follow when faced with an ethical dilemma. The steps are:

1. Get all the facts.
2. Ask yourself: Does my conscience tell me it’s wrong? Would I want a coworker or supervisor to see what I am doing? Will my decision hurt anyone? Is what I am doing legal?
3. List your options and the possible consequences of each option.
4. Choose and carry out the best option.

[Back to Figure 1]