RT 110 Ls 11 professional ethics and medical law

Ethics

the principles of right and wrong of human conduct and character that guide an individual in making decisions

Laws

Regulations established by a government applicable to peioke witgin a certain political subdivision

Morals

Accepted customs of right living and conduct and an individual practice in relation to these customs

Standard of professional conduct

Practice behaviors defined by members of a profession

Autonomy

Person has the right to make own decisions

Fidelity

Faithfulness to patient, coworkers, employer, spouse, hospital, etc.

Veracity

telling the truth

Nonmaleficence

Refraining from doing harm

Justice- procedural

all people treated equally

Justice/distributive justice

Way of establishing a process for most equitable distribution of a limited resource

Ex- organ donations

Modified six step ethical decision making process

1. Gather facts

2. Determine the stakeholders and interests

3. Apply six basic ethical principles

4. Consider laws and possible actions

5. Choose an action and act

6. Evaluate

Step 1- gather facts

What do you know? Figure out facts you do know, can be time consuming

Step 2- determine stakeholders

Who will be affected by the decision? Who will gain or lose?

Step 3- Apply 6 basic ethical principles

1. Autonomy

2. Fidelity

3. Veracity

4. Beneficence

5. Nonmaleficence

6. Justice (1. Procedural, 2. Distributive)

Step 4 consider laws and possible actions

Is there a law or regulation that compels you to act or prohibits you from acting?

Step 5 choose an action and act

Which action choice is appropriate based on steps 1,2,3,4?

Continue to follow up our action to complete it

Step 6 evaluate

How does it work?

Important part of growth, consider similar situations where a different choice was made and compare to develop the most effective process for the future

Standard or care

Degree or skill, knowledge, care ordinarily possessed and employed by members in good standing with the profession, always changing, never set and stone

Tort

He or she believes they have been harmed, wronged, suffered from injury

5 acts or Tort

Assault, battery, false imprisonment, defamation, fraud

Assault

Making a pt feel like you're going to beat them up, threatened

Battery

Unlawful touching of another without justification or excuse

- X-ray wrong pt, wrong body part

False Imprisonment

Patient is restrained, thinking they are restrained against their will

defamation of character

Holding up a person to ridicule, scorn or contempt in respectable and considerable part of the community

Slander

Spoken words

Libel

Written or published comments or pictures

Fraud

Willful, intention of misrepresentation of facts that may cause harm to an individual or result in loss of as an individual right or property

Negligence

Failure to care as a reasonably prudent person would use under like or similar circumstances

- theory of liability

- burden of proof lies with plaintiff

4 elements that must be proven in order to find radiographer guilty of negligence

1. Duty to the patient by the health care practitioner (standard of care)

2. Breach of this duty by an act or by failing to perform some act (deviation from the standard of care)

3. A commendable injury

4. A casual relationship between the injury and the breach of duty

Res Ipsa Loquitur

the thing speaks for itself, patient is at no fault

Respondeat Superior

the master speaks for the servant