Showing papers on "Professional ethics published in 2016"
TL;DR: In this paper, the concept of "ethics work" in social work practice is introduced, which is a more descriptive account of ethics that refers to the effort people put into seeing ethically salient aspects of situations, developing themselves as good practitioners, working out the right course of action and justifying who they are and what they have done.
Abstract: This article outlines and develops the concept of ‘ethics work’ in social work practice. It takes as its starting point a situated account of ethics as embedded in everyday practice: ‘everyday ethics’. This is contrasted with ‘textbook ethics’, which focuses on outlining general ethical principles, presenting ethical dilemmas and offering normative ethical frameworks (including decision-making models). ‘Ethics work’ is a more descriptive account of ethics that refers to the effort people put into seeing ethically salient aspects of situations, developing themselves as good practitioners, working out the right course of action and justifying who they are and what they have done. After identifying seven features of ethics work, including work on framing, roles, emotion, identity, reason, relationships and performance, each element is illustrated with reference to two case examples from social work practice. It is argued that the concept of ethics work, with its focus on the practitioners as moral ag...
128 citations
TL;DR: Abdelal et al. as mentioned in this paper argue that it is important for ethical and professional reasons (e.g., inclusion and advancing diversity) and also for research integrity reasons (i.e., accurately describing samples for the purposes of clarity, which impacts generalization of findings and possible replication of findings).
Abstract: In this editorial, we encourage authors to rethink and update the demographic questions they use in their research surveys. We argue that this is important for ethical and professional reasons (i.e., inclusion and advancing diversity) and also for research integrity reasons (i.e., accurately describing samples for the purposes of clarity, which impacts generalization of findings and possible replication of findings). We give information about the 5 most commonly used demographic questions in survey research (i.e., gender identity, age, ethnicity and race, education, and location) and other additional demographic questions often found in research (i.e., questions about children, disability, employment, relationship status, religion, sexual orientation, and social class). We list questions and answer choices that we selected after reviewing the research literature, and we include our additional, more inclusive answer choices and coding categories. These modified questions better reflect the complexity of respondents’ identities and provide clarity as to how to assess those identities. In this editorial, we will encourage authors to rethink and update the demographic questions they use in their research surveys. We argue that this is important for ethical and professional reasons (i.e., inclusion and advancing diversity) and also for research integrity reasons (i.e., accurately describing samples for the purposes of clarity, which impacts generalization of findings and possible replication of findings). Researchers often collect demographic infor mation in research surveys for two reasons. The first reason concerns collecting information to answer their research questions, which can involve analyzing demographic information to determine whether identity is causing an individual to do a specific thing (i.e., independent variable) or if something is causing an individual to adopt a certain identity (i.e., dependent variable; Abdelal, Herrera, Johnston, & McDermott, 2009). It should be noted that identity can explain why people behave in certain ways, but just because someone has a certain identity does not mean that the person will act in a certain way (Abdelal et al., 2009). The second reason researchers collect demographic information is to accurately describe their sample. It is important to accurately describe a sample for the following reasons. First, by doing this, authors can determine if the participants they wanted to recruit responded to the survey and if those who responded comprehensively represent the popula tion the researchers wanted to study. Second, it is important for researchers to describe their samples so readers are better able to account for similarities and differences across studies. Third, by describing their sample, other researchers will have a better chance of replicating the original findings. Finally, if readers know more about the sample, they will know whether the findings are specific to that one sample or if they can be generalized to a larger
80 citations
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TL;DR: This chapter discusses human factors in computing systems in the context of large-scale distributed systems, and some examples from the rapidly changing environment suggest the need for continued exploration of these factors.
72 citations
TL;DR: The developed ECQAT identified key elements of a quality ethics consultation, established scoring criteria, developed training guidelines, and designed a holistic assessment process, and recommended future testing and potential uses for the tool.
Abstract: Although ethics consultation is offered as a clinical service in most hospitals in the United States, few valid and practical tools are available to evaluate, ensure, and improve ethics consultation quality. The quality of ethics consultation is important because poor quality ethics consultation can result in ethically inappropriate outcomes for patients, other stakeholders, or the health care system. To promote accountability for the quality of ethics consultation, we developed the Ethics Consultation Quality Assessment Tool (ECQAT). ECQAT enables raters to assess the quality of ethics consultations based on the written record. Through rigorous development and preliminary testing, we identified key elements of a quality ethics consultation (ethics question, consultation-specific information, ethical analysis, and conclusions and/or recommendations), established scoring criteria, developed training guidelines, and designed a holistic assessment process. This article describes the development of the ECQAT, the resulting product, and recommended future testing and potential uses for the tool.
52 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a review of the literature on professional ethics education for future teachers is presented, with a focus on the role of teaching ethics in teacher education, the primary objectives of ethical education for teachers, recommended teaching and learning strategies, and challenges to introducing an ethics curriculum.
Abstract: This article provides a narrative review of the scholarly writings on professional ethics education for future teachers. Against the background of a widespread belief among scholars working in this area that longstanding and sustained research and reflection on the ethics of teaching have had little impact on the teacher education curriculum, the article takes stock of the field by synthesizing viewpoints on key aspects of teaching ethics to teacher candidates—the role ethics plays in teacher education, the primary objectives of ethics education for teachers, recommended teaching and learning strategies, and challenges to introducing ethics curriculum—and maps out how opinions on these matters have evolved over the three decades since the initial publication of Strike and Soltis’ seminal book, The Ethics of Teaching. In light of the review’s results, the article identifies critical deficits in this literature and proposes a set of recommendations for future inquiry.
48 citations
08 Jan 2016
TL;DR: An AAMC working group concluded that medical educators have paid insufficient attention to students' development of professional standards and to the immediate ethical dilemmas that students face as students.
Abstract: An AAMC working group concluded that medical educators have paid insufficient attention to students' development of professional standards and to the immediate ethical dilemmas that students face as students. Its discussion of the primary determinants of medical students' ethical development focused on improving: (1) the evaluation of candidates for admission; (2) the medical school learning climate, including recognition of the challenges inherent in the increasing cultural diversity among students and patients; and (3) communication to students of expectations of professional behaviors and standards. An AAMC initiative is outlined that includes preparation of a resource book featuring cases illustrating common ethical dilemmas that medical students face, descriptions of effective honor systems, suggestions for faculty development, and an annotated bibliography.
48 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present the results of an international survey on ethics content and curriculum in initial teacher education (ITE) and find that 24% of the ITE programs surveyed contain at least one mandatory stand-alone ethics course.
Abstract: Despite a broad consensus on the ethical dimensions of the teaching profession, and long-standing efforts to align teacher education with wider trends in professional education, little is known about how teacher candidates are being prepared to face the ethical challenges of contemporary teaching. This article presents the results of an international survey on ethics content and curriculum in initial teacher education (ITE). Involving five Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries—the United States, England, Canada, Australia, and the Netherlands—the study’s findings shed light on teacher educators’ perspectives on the contribution of ethics content to the education of future teachers and provide a snapshot of how well existing programs line up with their aspirations. The results showed that 24% of the ITE programs surveyed contain at least one mandatory stand-alone ethics course. The meaning of the results vis-a-vis opportunities for expanding ethics education in preservice teaching programs is also discussed.
46 citations
01 Mar 2016
TL;DR: Ethics issues discussed include determining the appropriateness of tele-mental health services for clients, informed consent, confidentiality, clinical and technological competence, and emergency procedures and safeguards.
Abstract: The integration of various technologies into clinical services and the provision of tele-mental health can help practices run more smoothly and efficiently, increase access to needed treatment for individuals in remote areas, and expand the reach of the professional services psychotherapists offer. While this brings many potential benefits to practitioners and clients alike, the practice of tele-mental health also brings a number of ethical, legal, and clinical challenges. These are addressed and highlighted through representative case examples. Ethics issues discussed include determining the appropriateness of tele-mental health services for clients, informed consent, confidentiality, clinical and technological competence, and emergency procedures and safeguards. Legal issues addressed include interjurisdictional practice and the role of laws in the jurisdictions where the practitioner and client each are located. Relevant ethics standards and professional practice guidelines are reviewed, and specific recommendations for the ethical, legal, and clinically effective practice of tele-mental health are provided.
36 citations
TL;DR: The Oxford Handbook of Professional Economic Ethics as mentioned in this paper explores a wide range of questions related to the nature of ethical economic practice and the content of professional economic ethics, and explores current thinking that has emerged in these areas while widening substantially the terrain of economic ethics.
Abstract: For over a century the economics profession has extended its reach to encompass policy formation and institutional design while largely ignoring the ethical challenges that attend the profession's influence over the lives of others. Economists have proven to be disinterested in ethics. Embracing emotivism, they often treat ethics a matter of mere preference. Moreover, economists tend to be hostile to professional economic ethics, which they incorrectly equate with a code of conduct that would be at best ineffectual and at worst disruptive to good economic practice. But good ethical reasoning is not reducible to mere tastes, and professional ethics is not reducible to a code. Instead, professional economic ethics refers to a new field of investigation-a tradition of sustained and lively inquiry into the irrepressible ethical entailments of academic and applied economic practice. The Oxford Handbook of Professional Economic Ethics explores a wide range of questions related to the nature of ethical economic practice and the content of professional economic ethics. It explores current thinking that has emerged in these areas while widening substantially the terrain of economic ethics. There has never been a volume that poses so directly and intensively the question of the need for and content of professional ethics for economics. The Handbook incorporates the work of leading scholars and practitioners, including academic economists from various theoretical traditions; applied economists, beyond academia, whose work has direct and immense social impact; and philosophers, professional ethicists, and others whose work has addressed the nature of "professionalism " and its implications for ethical practice. Available in OSO: http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/oso/public/content/oho_economics/9780199766635/toc.html Contributors to this volume - Harold Alderman Peter J. Boettke Jessica Carrick-Hagenbarth Jingnan Chen Angelina Christie David Colander Herman Daly Jishnu Das John B. Davis Erwin Dekker George F. DeMartino Sheila C. Dow William Easterly David Ellerman Gerald Epstein Robert H. Frank Alan Freeman Robert F. Garnett, Jr. Des Gasper Rachel Glennerster Sven Ove Hansson Daniel Houser Ravi Kanbur Arjo Klamer David M. Levy Thomas Mayer Deirdre N. McCloskey Julie A. Nelson Robert H. Nelson Kyle W. O'Donnell Susan Offutt Sandra J. Peart Shawn Powers Vijayendra Rao Martin Ravallion Constantine Sandis Tomas Sedla?ek Joseph E. Stiglitz Nassim Nicholas Taleb Edward R. Teather-Posadas Dennis F. Thompson Robert J. Thornton Irene van Staveren Robert H. Wade John O. Ward Sharon D. Welch Jonathan B. Wight Bart J. Wilson Stephen T. Ziliak
34 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that environmental catastrophes represent profound challenges faced by societies today, and argue for a greater ethical engagement with the environmental sciences and the humanities in the context of climate change.
Abstract: Environmental catastrophes represent profound challenges faced by societies today. Numerous scholars in the climate sciences and the humanities have argued for a greater ethical engagement with the ...
TL;DR: The controversy over psychologists' role in detainee interrogation and torture broke open a comforting facade as discussed by the authors, revealing a more complex, confused, and conflicted professional identity than we often present to students, clients, and the public.
Abstract: I wish to thank the Canadian Psychological Association for the John C. Service Award and Martin Drapeau, Editor of Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, for inviting me to publish this award address in CPA's flagship journal. I am humbled to be associated with the previous award recipients and particularly with the remarkable psychologist for whom it was named.The controversy over psychologists' role in detainee interrogation and torture broke open a comforting facade. It triggered investigations by newspaper reporters, congressional committees, human rights organisations, and a former federal prosecutor hired by the American Psychological Association (APA). They uncovered documents revealing a more complex, confused, and conflicted professional identity than we often present to students, clients, and the public.The controversy confronts us with questions of how we can best serve our profession. It challenges us with choices about what our profession is, what it means, what it does-who we are, what we mean, what we do. It asks whether our individual lives and the lives of our organisations reflect guild ethics or professional ethics.Looking at the choices that marked the path leading up to and into the controversy can help us respond to those questions and challenges. We can try to learn what they have to teach about our individual lives. If a credible identity, integrity, and professional ethics are not reflected in our individual lives, it is unlikely they will thrive in our profession and organisations.I'll discuss the controversy, the path leading up to it, and some major choices we face, but I'll begin with the following selfdisclosure and context. After almost 30 years of active involvement with APA, I finally resigned in 2008 over changes APA had been making in its ethics, changes that the Hoffman report discusses. I wrote that "I respectfully disagree with these changes; I am skeptical that they will work as intended; and I believe that they may lead to far-reaching unintended consequences." Both my letter of resignation (online at http://kspope.com/apa/index.php) and my articles (Pope, 2011a, 2011b, 2014, 2016; Pope & Gutheil, 2009a) present my beliefs along with the evidence and reasoning that in my opinion support them.The ControversyThe attacks on U.S. civilians on 9/11 forced U.S. citizens and their leaders to make hard choices without knowing what threats lay ahead. To find out more about those threats, the government interrogated detainees at Camps Delta, Iguana, and X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, the Detention Centre at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan, Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq, and similar settings.Psychology's Support for the Interrogations and Psychologist InvolvementAPA strongly supported the value of the interrogations and psychologists' involvement. They explained to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that "conducting an interrogation is inherently a psychological endeavor. . . . Psychology is central to this process. . . . Psychologists have valuable contributions to make toward . . . protecting our nation's security through interrogation processes" (American Psychological Association, 2007b). Psychologists would not only ensure that interrogations were effective in getting accurate and actionable intelligence but also ensure that all interrogations they were involved in were safe, legal, and ethical. An APA Ethics Office statement in Psychology Today underscored what psychologists would achieve in all interrogations: "The ability to spot conditions that make abuse more likely uniquely prepares psychologists for this task. Adding a trained professional ensures that all interrogations are conducted in a safe, legal, ethical, and effective manner that protects the individual and helps to elicit information that will prevent future acts of violence" (Hutson, 2008; italics added).APA's claim that psychologists were uniquely qualified-in contrast to statements from other professional organisations reluctant to play a role in these interrogations- convinced military leaders. …
TL;DR: In this article, a framework is presented for analysing professional oaths in terms of their form, their content and the specific contribution they make to business ethics management: oaths may foster professionalism, facilitate moral deliberation and enhance compliance.
Abstract: The global financial crisis has led to a surprising interest in professional oaths in business. Examples are the MBA Oath (Harvard Business School), the Economist’s Oath (George DeMartino) and the Dutch Banker’s Oath, which senior executives in the financial services industry in the Netherlands have been obliged to swear since 2010. This paper is among the first to consider oaths from the perspective of business ethics. A framework is presented for analysing oaths in terms of their form, their content and the specific contribution they make to business ethics management: oaths may foster professionalism, facilitate moral deliberation and enhance compliance. This framework is used to analyse and evaluate the MBA Oath, the Economist’s Oath and the Banker’s Oath as well as various other similar initiatives.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe a team-taught course at Wright State University which combines chemical information literacy, written and oral communication skills, professional ethics, and career preparation, which includes evaluation of sources, practice with scientific databases and an introduction to reference management.
Abstract: The widely acknowledged need to include chemical information competencies and communication skills in the undergraduate chemistry curriculum can be accommodated in a variety of ways. We describe a team-taught, semester-length course at Wright State University which combines chemical information literacy, written and oral communication skills, professional ethics, and career preparation. The chemical literature instruction includes evaluation of sources, practice with scientific databases, and an introduction to reference management. Written communication skills are addressed in a term paper assignment which includes a peer review exercise to provide students with exposure to an author’s and a reviewer’s perspective. Students’ oral communication skills are honed through training in presentation techniques and the completion of several speaking assignments. Resume-writing, professional ethics discussions, and presentations by alumni who are employed in a variety of chemistry-related positions contribute to ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present six clusters of professional practice and ethical issues that have not heretofore been specifically identified, including the use of physical restraint and seclusion procedures in schools.
Abstract: Use of physical restraint and seclusion procedures in schools continues to be controversial, and foster proposals for federal and state legislation and regulation. Despite much discussion about what policies are needed, there has been little discussion about the professional practice issues and the ethical issues related to these practices. The purpose of this report is to present six clusters of professional practice and ethical issues that have not heretofore been specifically identified. To do so, we will examine the codes of professional practice and ethics of organizations representing educators who work with students with severe behavioral challenges. To illustrate these issues, we use real-world case examples from media stories and official reports about problems resulting from restraint and seclusion. Although individuals may disagree regarding decisions about these ethical issues, these questions should be a part of any policy discussion related to professional practice regarding these issues, an...
TL;DR: Nursing students and nurse educators differed somewhat both in their views of the ethical principles guiding an educator's work and in the ethical issues arising in the work.
TL;DR: In this article, a meta-ethics framework for understanding openness in education is proposed based on basic meta-ethical positions (deontological, consequentialist, virtue) and evaluated in the context of the Open Educational Resources (OER) Research Hub project.
Abstract: What difference does openness make to the ethics of teaching and research? This paper approaches this question both from the perspective of research into the use of open educational resources (OER) in teaching and learning. An outline of the nature and importance of ethics in education research is provided before the basic principles of research ethics are examined through a discussion of traditional guidance provided by three UK research governance bodies: the Economics and Social Research Council; the British Education Research Association; and the British Psychological Society. The importance and foundation of institutional approval for research activities is analysed with several examples of the differences made by openness. It is argued that openness by its nature provokes particular issues for education researchers. A framework for understanding openness in education is then proposed based on basic meta-ethical positions (deontological; consequentialist; virtue). Used as a tool, the framework attempts to retain relevance in a variety of scenarios without requiring a dogmatic vision of openness (e.g. an insistence on open licensing). This framework is then evaluated in the context of the OER Research Hub project, which developed guidance for others in the form of an ‘ethics manual’ and online learning provided through the OER Research Hub’s ‘Open Research’ course hosted on P2PU’s School of Open. Use of the framework is intended to contribute to a better understanding of professional ethics for open practitioners.
TL;DR: This paper analyzed the entrepreneurial practices of travel journalists in the USA as a qualitative case study of the marketization of fields of cultural production, arguing that travel journalists instrumentalize crisis narratives to justify shifting professional ethics as means of economic production, while they simultaneously maintain an order of prestige and create closure to outside challengers.
TL;DR: An ethical framework for software engineers that connects software developers’ ethical responsibilities directly to their professional standards is proposed, which manifests the advantages of an ethical framework as an alternative to the all too familiar approach in professional ethics that advocates “stand-alone codes of ethics”.
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to propose an ethical framework for software engineers that connects software developers’ ethical responsibilities directly to their professional standards. The implementation of such an ethical framework can overcome the traditional dichotomy between professional skills and ethical skills, which plagues the engineering professions, by proposing an approach to the fundamental tasks of the practitioner, i.e., software development, in which the professional standards are intrinsically connected to the ethical responsibilities. In so doing, the ethical framework improves the practitioner’s professionalism and ethics. We call this approach Ethical-Driven Software Development (EDSD), as an approach to software development. EDSD manifests the advantages of an ethical framework as an alternative to the all too familiar approach in professional ethics that advocates “stand-alone codes of ethics”. We believe that one outcome of this synergy between professional and ethical skills is simply better engineers. Moreover, since there are often different software solutions, which the engineer can provide to an issue at stake, the ethical framework provides a guiding principle, within the process of software development, that helps the engineer evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of different software solutions. It does not and cannot affect the end-product in and of-itself. However, it can and should, make the software engineer more conscious and aware of the ethical ramifications of certain engineering decisions within the process.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors introduce a new measure of personal ethics in the form of marital cheating to examine the relationship between personal ethics and corporate misconduct and find that firms with CEOs and CFOs who use a marital infidelity website are more than twice as likely to engage in two forms of corporate misconduct.
Abstract: We introduce a new measure of personal ethics in the form of marital cheating to examine the relationship between personal ethics and corporate misconduct. Firms with CEOs and CFOs who use a marital infidelity website are more than twice as likely to engage in two forms of corporate misconduct. The relationship is not explained by a wide range of regional, firm, and executive characteristics or by the infidelity website usage of other executives. Additionally, white-collar SEC defendants also have elevated levels of infidelity website usage. Our findings suggest that personal and professional ethics are not as distinct as some believe.
TL;DR: The research compared the ethical behavior of volunteers with that of professional therapists and examined the connection between years of experience, ethical behavior, and PQL, suggesting that ethical behavior correlates with STS, burnout, and CS.
Abstract: This study is one of the few that has compared volunteers' professional quality of life (PQL), which includes secondary traumatic stress (STS), burnout, and compassion satisfaction (CS), to those of professional caregivers. In addition, the research compared the ethical behavior of volunteers with that of professional therapists and examined the connection between years of experience, ethical behavior, and PQL. One hundred eighty-three volunteers and professional caregivers filled out a sociodemographic questionnaire, an Ethical Behavior Questionnaire and the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) questionnaire. The results indicated that professional caregivers report lower levels of STS and burnout, and higher levels of CS and ethical behavior compared with volunteer caregivers. Moreover, the findings suggest that ethical behavior correlates with STS, burnout, and CS. Ethical behavior has a protective value for mental health caregivers. The discussion emphasizes the value of a professional code of ethics and ethical training for professional and volunteering caregivers.
13 Apr 2016
TL;DR: This chapter will conclude by setting forth a straightforward, stepwise ethics framework that provides a tool for analyzing the cases in this volume and, more importantly, one that public health practitioners have found useful in a range of contexts.
Abstract: Introducing public health ethics poses two special challenges. First, it is a relatively new field that combines public health and practical ethics. Its unfamiliarity requires considerable explanation, yet its scope and emergent qualities make delineation difficult. Moreover, while the early development of public health ethics occurred in a western context, its reach, like public health itself, has become global. A second challenge, then, is to articulate an approach specific enough to provide clear guidance yet sufficiently flexible and encompassing to adapt to global contexts. Broadly speaking, public health ethics helps guide practical decisions affecting population or community health based on scientific evidence and in accordance with accepted values and standards of right and wrong. In these ways, public health ethics builds on its parent disciplines of public health and ethics. This dual inheritance plays out in the definition the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers of public health ethics: “A systematic process to clarify, prioritize, and justify possible courses of public health action based on ethical principles, values and beliefs of stakeholders, and scientific and other information” (CDC 2011). Public health ethics shares with other fields of practical and professional ethics both the general theories of ethics and a common store of ethical principles, values, and beliefs. It differs from these other fields largely in the nature of challenges that public health officials typically encounter and in the ethical frameworks it employs to address these challenges. Frameworks provide methodical approaches or procedures that tailor general ethical theories, principles, values, and beliefs to the specific ethical challenges that arise in a particular field. Although no framework is definitive, many are useful, and some are especially effective in particular contexts. This chapter will conclude by setting forth a straightforward, stepwise ethics framework that provides a tool for analyzing the cases in this volume and, more importantly, one that public health practitioners have found useful in a range of contexts. For a public health practitioner, knowing how to employ an ethics framework to address a range of ethical challenges in public health—a know-how that depends on practice—is the ultimate take-home message.
01 Jul 2016
TL;DR: In this article, fifteen new essays collected in this volume address questions concerning the ethics of self-defense, most centrally when and to what extent the use of defensive force, especially lethal force, can be justified.
Abstract: The fifteen new essays collected in this volume address questions concerning the ethics of self-defense, most centrally when and to what extent the use of defensive force, especially lethal force, can be justified.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the relevance and limits of professional moral autonomy for the agricultural profession, and conclude that if some preconditions are met by farmers, then this type of moral autonomy can be relevant for farmers and for society, and contributes to the quality of the public debate on the future of farming.
Abstract: Food production, water management, land use, and animal and public health are all topics of extensive public debate. These themes are linked to the core activities of the agricultural sector, and more specifically to the work of farmers. Nonetheless, the ethical discussions are mostly initiated by interest groups in society rather than by farmers. At least in Europe, consumer organizations and animal welfare and environmental organizations are more present in the public debate than farmers. This is not how it should be. First, because consumers often cannot but rely on agriculture. Second, because recent research shows that farmers have moral beliefs and convictions that appear to be broader than economic considerations and that are—to a certain extent—specific to their profession. This raises the question how to make input from farmers operational in the public debates on the future of farming. We discuss one option: entrusting farmers with professional autonomy concerning moral matters related to farming. We sketch the historical background of the current situation in which farmers are relatively silent on moral matters and we present some clear indications that farmers have values and moral beliefs that are relevant for the public debate. Next the concepts of professionalism and professional autonomy are discussed and applied to the practice of farming. Finally, we discuss the relevance and limits of professional moral autonomy for the agricultural profession. We close with an overview of what this moral autonomy implies for and requires from farmers in practice. We conclude that if some preconditions are met by farmers, then this type of moral autonomy can be relevant for farmers and for society, and contributes to the quality of the public debate on the future of farming.
TL;DR: The findings of a study in one university context suggest that engagement with the health mentor narratives facilitated students' critical reflection related to their understanding of the principles of healthcare ethics.
Abstract: Background: The use of patient centred approaches to healthcare education is evolving, yet the effectiveness of these approaches in relation to professional ethics education is not well understood. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences and learning of health profession students engaged in an ethics module as part of a Health Mentor Program at the University of Toronto. Methods: Students were assigned to interprofessional groups representing seven professional programs and matched with a health mentor. The health mentors, individuals living with chronic health conditions, shared their experiences of the healthcare system through 90 minute semi-structured interviews with the students. Following the interviews, students completed self-reflective papers and engaged in facilitated asynchronous online discussions. Thematic analysis of reflections and discussions was used to uncover pertaining to student experiences and learning regarding professional ethics. Results: Five major themes emerged from the data: (1) Patient autonomy and expertise in care; (2) ethical complexity and its inevitable reality in the clinical practice setting; (3) patient advocacy as an essential component of day-to-day practice; (4) qualities of remarkable clinicians that informed personal ideals for future practice; (5) patients' perspectives on clinician error and how they enabled suggestions for improving future practice. Discussion: The findings of a study in one university context suggest that engagement with the health mentor narratives facilitated students' critical reflection related to their understanding of the principles of healthcare ethics.
TL;DR: It is argued that codes of ethics and codes of conduct are significantly different in form and function similar to the difference between ethics and law in everyday life and closer attention to metaethical concerns by code writers will better support the functions of their issuing organisations.
Abstract: Nursing codes of ethics and conduct are features of professional practice across the world, and in the UK, the regulator has recently consulted on and published a new code. Initially part of a professionalising agenda, nursing codes have recently come to represent a managerialist and disciplinary agenda and nursing can no longer be regarded as a self-regulating profession. This paper argues that codes of ethics and codes of conduct are significantly different in form and function similar to the difference between ethics and law in everyday life. Some codes successfully integrate these two functions within the same document, while others, principally the UK Code, conflate them resulting in an ambiguous document unable to fulfil its functions effectively. The paper analyses the differences between ethical-codes and conduct-codes by discussing titles, authorship, level, scope for disagreement, consequences of transgression, language and finally and possibly most importantly agent-centeredness. It is argued that conduct-codes cannot require nurses to be compassionate because compassion involves an emotional response. The concept of kindness provides a plausible alternative for conduct-codes as it is possible to understand it solely in terms of acts. But if kindness is required in conduct-codes, investigation and possible censure follows from its absence. Using examples it is argued that there are at last five possible accounts of the absence of kindness. As well as being potentially problematic for disciplinary panels, difficulty in understanding the features of blameworthy absence of kindness may challenge UK nurses who, following a recently introduced revalidation procedure, are required to reflect on their practice in relation to The Code. It is concluded that closer attention to metaethical concerns by code writers will better support the functions of their issuing organisations.
TL;DR: Online discussions among healthcare providers give them an opportunity to relate ethical principles to real ethical dilemmas and problems in their work as well as to critically analyze ethical issues, and it was difficult for students to differentiate ethical dilemma from other ethical work concerns.
Abstract: Background: Healthcare professionals encounter ethical dilemmas and concerns in their practice. More research is needed to understand these ethical problems and to know how to educate professionals to
respond to them.
Research objective: To describe ethical dilemmas and concerns at work from the perspectives of Finnish and Dutch healthcare professionals studying at the master’s level.
Research design: Exploratory, qualitative study that used the text of student online discussions of ethical dilemmas at work as data.
Method: Participants’ online discussions were analyzed using inductive content analysis.
Participants: The sample consisted of 49 students at master’s level enrolled in professional ethics courses at universities in Finland and the Netherlands.
Ethical considerations: Permission for conducting the study was granted from both universities of applied sciences. All students provided their informed consent for the use of their assignments as research data.
Findings: Participants described 51 problematic work situations. Among these, 16 were found to be ethical dilemmas, and the remaining were work issues with an ethical concern and did not meet criteria of a dilemma. The most common problems resulted from concerns about quality care, safety of healthcare professionals, patients’ rights, and working with too few staff and inadequate resources.
Discussion: The results indicated that participants were concerned about providing quality of care and raised numerous questions about how to provide it in challenging situations. The results show that it was difficult for students to differentiate ethical dilemmas from other ethical work concerns.
Conclusion: Online discussions among healthcare providers give them an opportunity to relate ethical principles to real ethical dilemmas and problems in their work as well as to critically analyze ethical issues. We found that discussions with descriptions of ethical dilemmas and concerns by health
professionals provide important information and recommendations not only for education and practice but also for health policy.
TL;DR: The study findings suggest that the facilitators of spiritual care delivery are more personal than organizational, and strategies to improve the likelihood and quality of Spiritual care delivery should be developed and implemented primarily at the personal level.
Abstract: Background: Despite the paramount importance and direct relationship of spirituality and spiritual care with health and well-being, they are relatively neglected aspects of nursing care. Objectives: The aim of this study is to explore Iranian nurses’ perceptions and experiences of the facilitators of spiritual care delivery. Materials and Methods: For this qualitative content analysis study, a purposive maximum-variation sample of 17 nurses was recruited from teaching and private hospitals in Tehran, Iran. Data were collected from 19 individual, unstructured interviews. The conventional content-analysis approach was applied in data analysis. Results: The facilitators of spiritual care delivery fall into two main themes: living to achieve cognizance of divinity and adherence to professional ethics. These two main themes are further divided into eight categories: spiritual self-care, active learning, professional belonging, personal and professional competencies, gradual evolution under divine guidance, awareness of the spiritual dimension of human beings, occurrence of awakening flashes and incidents during life, and congruence between patients’ and healthcare providers’ religious beliefs. Conclusions: The study findings suggest that the facilitators of spiritual care delivery are more personal than organizational. Accordingly, strategies to improve the likelihood and quality of spiritual care delivery should be developed and implemented primarily at the personal level.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that were we able to articulate a positive vision of the social scientist's professional ethics, this would enable us to reframe social science research ethics, which is the goal of this paper.
Abstract: This article is premised on the idea that were we able to articulate a positive vision of the social scientist's professional ethics, this would enable us to reframe social science research ethics ...
TL;DR: In this article, a qualitative study was designed to explore decision-making processes used by directors of field education in social work programs in the USA and found that field directors use a four-dimensional decision making process to address competing demands, employing a "good enough" framework.
Abstract: This qualitative study was designed to explore decision-making processes used by directors of field education in social work programs in the USA. It is a follow-up to previous research showing the dilemmas that field directors face [specifics deleted to maintain the integrity of the review process]. We asked 22 field directors to explain how they would handle different dilemmas designed to simulate the kinds of issues that typically arise in field education. Analyses revealed that field directors use a four-dimensional decision-making process to address competing demands, employing a ‘good enough’ framework. The four dimensions include student learning, professional ethics, agency relationships, and administrative expectations.