II. Healthcare Executive`s Responsibilities to Patients or Others The Healthcare Executive has, within the scope of its powers: Despite increased attention to the quality of healthcare services, there are still many threats to patient safety in healthcare facilities. As patient safety is multidimensional and based on ethical and legal imperatives, ethical and legal challenges should be considered. Finding the causes and finding the right solution, i.e. the basic analysis of the incident, is one of the first essential steps to reduce the frequency of patient injuries. It should be noted that the mentioned process must be free of bias and should focus on finding and correcting the root cause rather than identifying the person responsible. One way to prevent such events is to have a special policy to report the event in an appropriate organized ethical atmosphere, without blaming anyone. Indeed, fear of blame, penalties, limited organizational support, insufficient feedback and lack of knowledge of the factors involved are some of the barriers to reporting medical errors in hospitals (12). From an ethical perspective, the value of reliability is a prerequisite for successful risk management.
This value is associated with safety culture as it refers to physical, mental and cultural safety. Therefore, the responsibility of managers is to create mental and physical safety environments based on openness to promote patient safety and quality of care. In addition, it is important for managers to foster multidisciplinary collaboration to enable transparent reporting (10). Health care professionals must adhere to appropriate limits. Patients are vulnerable, and this vulnerability must be recognized and respected at all times. The positive results of treatment can lead to deep feelings of gratitude, which can be confused with physical attraction. Ethics and sexual exploitation laws prohibit inappropriate interactions with clients, such as meeting or accepting gifts that exceed face value. Genuine sympathy, trust and empathy should frame all interactions. Intervention is required when mutual respect is not demonstrated or boundaries are crossed. Being a role model means that decisions and actions reflect the personal integrity and ethical leadership that others want to emulate.
The purpose of the American College of Healthcare Executives Code of Ethics is to serve as a standard of conduct for members. It provides standards of ethical behavior for health leaders in their professional relationships. These relationships include colleagues, patients or others who are being helped; members of the Healthcare Executive and other organizations; the Community; and society as a whole. In this case, the obvious reason was that someone`s incubator door was left open or improperly closed. In this context, the following questions are raised, among others: Was the nurse busy with other emergency and essential measures? Has the latch on the incubator door been broken? Why should the nurse forget to examine the door carefully? Is it possible that a lack of patient safety guidelines led to this incident? In keeping with the non-malignancy principle of medical ethics, ensuring patient safety and preventing injury or harm to them is a top priority for healthcare providers (1). This makes it the most important element of the quality of health services in the world. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published a report entitled «Man is fallible: create a safe health system» on the incidence of medical errors in the United States, ushering in a major international shift in patient safety (2). As a result, Iran`s healthcare system has implemented special plans to provide standard health services and avoid errors, as well as an organized approach to managing risks, systematic deficiencies and improving patient safety (3). One such program is clinical governance, which was introduced by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MOHME) and launched in November 2009. While the MESMM emphasized the importance of clinical governance, there are some challenges to achieving desired outcomes (4).
This may be the result of insufficient understanding by healthcare providers of the importance of clinical governance and the lack of an organizational safety culture (5, 6). The main task of the doctor or nurse after a detailed examination and treatment is the detailed recording and description of all events without any assumptions. If the investigations found evidence of negligence, that would be a very different discussion and the call to social services would be absolutely necessary. This report presents various aspects of patient safety with respect to root cause analysis (CRA) and risk management, the role of human resources, the role of professionalism, the need to inform parents (disclosure of medical errors) and forensic pathology with a focus on ethical aspects. Professional ethics and patient safety are closely related fundamental concepts in medicine. Patient safety is based on ethical principles, which are considered indicators of quality of care (15). Patient safety requires the establishment and implementation of a code of professional ethics. Based on Iran`s Code of Conduct for Health Professionals, all patients are expected to be treated with dignity and protected from potential harm (16). Therefore, adherence to ethical principles requires health care providers to identify potential safety deficiencies in order to prevent falls (15). Access to health care presents difficult ethical and legal dilemmas for health care professionals who sign an oath not to harm their patients.
Balancing quality of care and efficiency can be challenging. Health care professionals struggle to help patients who don`t have the resources to cover the treatment they need. Pressure from hospital administrations, insurance companies and managed care organizations further limits the choice of treatments and prescriptions. A malpractice lawsuit is more likely when a patient claims their condition was misdiagnosed by a stressed physician. Over the past century, there have been a number of developments in medicine that have revolutionized the field of medical practice. This makes it possible to diagnose diseases faster and more accurately. However, as new treatments are introduced and the field changes, healthcare professionals face new legal and ethical challenges. This blog gives you an overview of the topics of work in healthcare. The fundamental goals of the health leadership profession are to maintain or improve the overall quality of life, dignity and well-being of every person in need of health services and to create an equitable, accessible, effective, safe and efficient health care system. Every day, patients, families and healthcare professionals are confronted with ethical and legal decisions about medical treatments, practices, hospital management and other issues that arise in the healthcare sector. A degree in health care and its management can make you aware of the legal and ethical health issues you may face in your career. If you want to get a good foundation in healthcare, enroll in the HND Healthcare Practice for England programme offered by St.
Patrick`s London. Our ethical responsibility in a given situation depends partly on the nature of the decision and partly on the roles we play. For example, a patient and family play different roles and owe each other different ethical obligations than a patient and his or her physician. In the United States, four main principles define the ethical duties that health professionals have towards patients. This is the Stark Act that only those with an advanced understanding of health care administration and law may have heard of. The Stark Act is another safeguard against fraud. Unethical practitioners may try to deceive the government by referring a patient to a family member or financial partner, thereby giving the attending physician a financial reward. This kind of unethical practice could be widespread if directors did not control it. Most online MBA programs in healthcare cover this form of unethical behavior and how to prevent it.
In fulfilling their obligations to patients or others they serve, health care leaders act as moral advocates and role models. Because every leadership decision has an impact on the health and well-being of individuals and communities, healthcare leaders must carefully weigh the possible outcomes of their decisions. In organizations that provide health services, they must strive to protect and promote the rights, interests and privileges of patients or other caregivers. The role of moral advocate requires that health care leaders take the necessary steps to promote these rights, interests and privileges. These are just some of the complex laws and ethical guidelines that medical staff must follow. Given the intricacies of health law and ethics, healthcare organizations hire professionals to ensure compliance, giving doctors more time to focus on treating their patients. Without these often overlooked medical professionals, doctors would waste time studying new legal and ethical guidelines instead of focusing on medicine. As patient safety is multidimensional and based on ethical and legal imperatives, ethical and legal challenges should be considered.