This paper examines the role of ethical codes and informed consent in modern healthcare practice. Drawing on two peer-reviewed sources, it reviews how codes of ethics help organizations manage legal compliance, corporate governance, and professional relationships, while also guiding employee conduct. The paper then analyzes informed consent through the lens of the SUPPORT study controversy, illustrating why full disclosure is essential to patient autonomy. The author also reflects on a personal code of ethics centered on patient education and honest communication, and discusses how that code applies in a counseling environment. Together, these themes highlight how ethical frameworks protect both patients and healthcare organizations.
Ethical codes and informed consent are foundational elements of modern healthcare. Informed consent allows people to understand the risks they take when accepting a procedure, while ethical codes enable organizations such as hospitals to conduct business while avoiding potential lawsuits or other liabilities. Together, these frameworks protect the public from circumstances that could jeopardize health and well-being, and they strengthen the trust between patients and healthcare professionals. This essay examines what ethical codes and informed consent are and how each benefits patients and professional organizations.
Ethical codes have been widely embraced as a clear strategy for achieving more effective and secure organizational practice. A 2015 article explains the need for ethical codes to help coordinate legal compliance with corporate governance in the interest of organizations: "when legal compliance and corporate governance codes are conflated, codes can be used to define organizational interests ostentatiously by stipulating norms for employee ethics. Such codes have a largely cosmetic and insurance function, acting to control organizational risk management/protection" (Adelstein & Clegg, 2015, p. 1). Ethical codes thus provide the framework from which organizations can conduct business and avoid lawsuits or other potential pitfalls.
In any business or professional organization, a code of ethics typically comprises its mission statement, guiding the business or organization through its legal and operational environment. Whenever questionable matters arise, a code of ethics provides direction. Beyond helping organizations avoid risks, a code of ethics can also improve professional and business relationships.
Ethical values are frequently designed to offer guidance when partnering with other organizations, including the general public. Such values determine how organizations handle customer questions, negative business scenarios, or contract negotiations. The use of ethical codes also helps prohibit inappropriate behavior such as embezzlement or fraud. A code of ethics aids employees in understanding why certain actions may be deemed inappropriate and could generate negative legal consequences. Furthermore, a code of ethics helps the public, customers, and patients hold management accountable for unlawful conduct.
In an article detailing the consequences of the SUPPORT study, informed consent was identified as one of the tasks completed during the study, informing parents of the effects that higher oxygen saturation levels could have on a premature infant. The informed-consent form noted the higher risk of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) associated with prolonged exposure to supplemental oxygen, but stated that "the benefit of higher versus lower levels of oxygenation in infants, especially for premature infants, is not known" and also noted that "the use of lower saturation ranges may result in a lower incidence of severe ROP" (Drazen, Solomon, & Greene, 2013, p. 1930).
While the study yielded important information on how physicians could keep premature infants alive, many voiced anger over the deaths of premature infants who received lower levels of oxygen. This case is a compelling illustration of informed consent because it demonstrates the need to include all relevant information so that participants can make a fully informed decision. Had parents known the possibility of death if their premature infant received lower oxygen levels, they might not have consented — or at the very least, the study would not have drawn such strong criticism.
Informed consent gives people the information they need to make decisions that could affect them for the rest of their lives. While research is necessary to improve medical treatments and clinical decision-making, patients have rights that must be acknowledged. Federal regulations governing informed consent exist precisely because, without them, people might accept treatment options that could lead to serious and harmful consequences. It is the patient's right to know and understand what he or she is agreeing to when choosing one treatment over another.
"Author's commitment to patient honesty and education"
"Using patient education as ethical counseling practice"
A code of ethics and informed consent are crucial aspects of healthcare. Quality healthcare involves keeping a patient informed at every stage of their care. A code of ethics reduces organizational risk, and so does informed consent. When patients know what they are agreeing to before selecting a treatment or participating in a study, they are less likely to feel misled or to pursue legal action. Both ethical codes and informed consent ultimately serve the same goal: protecting patients and the organizations that care for them.
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