Ethics for Veterinary Teams Flashcards
(59 cards)
1
Q
What is a moral or ethical decision concerned with?
A
Actions that can seriously impact the welfare of others
2
Q
True or false; Moral/ethical decisions have priority over other decisions
A
True
3
Q
How are moral/ethical decisions evaluated
A
Based on how we justify them
4
Q
Bernard Rolin
A
Animal and professional ethics
5
Q
Jerold Tannenbaum
A
Professional ethics
6
Q
True or false; an ethical decision will benefit ALL parties involved
A
False
7
Q
Why teach veterinary ethics?
A
- Ethical awareness
- Ethical knowledge
- Ethical skills
- Individual and professional qualities
8
Q
What are some aspects of ethical awareness
A
- Recognise ethical issues
- Recognise values and viewpoints of others
9
Q
What are some aspects of ethical knowledge?
A
- Identify veterinary norms, particularly codes of conduct
- Recall laws and regulations, particularly animal-welfare regulations
10
Q
Ethics 1 versus Ethics 2
A
1: Ethical thoughts and feelings inside each of us
2: Study of ethics 1
11
Q
Ethics 1
A
- What I think is right or wrong
- Good vs bad
- Fair vs unfair
- Variable sources
- Contradictory or conflicting beliefs
- Social ethics
- Personal ethics
- Professional ethics
12
Q
Ethics 2
A
- The study of ethics 1
- Analysis of ethical propositions
- How are ethics 1 propositions justified
- Are ethics 1 propositions held by this person/group/organisation consistent?
- How can we address conflict
13
Q
True or false; Veterinary team members have greater responsibilities
A
True
14
Q
How does vet school shape my views?
A
- Increased analysis in terms of justice
- Less emphasis on “care”
- Altruism decrease
15
Q
The “halo” effect
A
Our biases/preconceptions
- e.g. If you are told “group A” is super smart, you will see them differently
16
Q
The horn effect
A
- Eg. a client comes into the clinic with no shoes, you are likely to have a preconceived prejudice or idea about them
17
Q
Influences on perception
A
- Sensory input
- Prejudices
- Beliefs
- Expectations
- Chemistry (Have you had lunch yet?)
18
Q
Ethics
A
Our beliefs, principles and rules determining what is right and wrong
19
Q
True or false; Ethical sensitivity must be consciously developed
A
True
20
Q
What are some aspects of ethical skills?
A
- Develop ethical reasoning and the ability to reflect upon ethical issues
- Develop value-aware communication skills at the client and societal levels
- Develop well-informed decision-making skills (acknowledging how many actions and opinions relate to ethical values)
21
Q
What are some aspects of individual and professional ethical qualities?
A
- Develop a personal identity (recognise own ethical viewpoints)
- Develop a professional identity (role as an advocate for the welfare of animals)
- Contribute to professional identity (recognise the societal role of the veterinary profession)
22
Q
What is an ethically challenging situation?
A
- Where there is a conflict between the interests of different stakeholders
- “Right way forward” is unclear
23
Q
What are the 3 R’s in research?
A
- Replacement
- Reduction
- Refinement
24
Q
Why do we care about ethically challenging situations?
A
- They are very common in veterinary settings
- These situations can lead to people leaving their jobs or the sector altogether
25
Career attrition
The process where individuals voluntarily or involuntarily leave their jobs within an organisation
26
What do ethics and wellbeing have in common?
Stress associated with ethical challenging situations is common
- Moral stress/distress/injury likely contributes to overall mental health morbidity and mortality
27
How do we deal with moral distress?
- Primary goal is to address the underlying moral issues that cause the distress
- Safe forum to discuss ECS
28
What does self care in relation to ethics include?
- Creating space to reflect
- Research
- Seeking support/guidance/validation/challenge
- Continuing professional development
29
Who is a veterinary team member?
Anyone working as part of a clinical or nonclinical veterinary team e.g. veterinarian, nurse, academic, practice manager, board member
30
Who are stakeholders?
Anyone impacted by an ethical decision (can be animal, individual, environment, organisation)
31
What are the potential benefits of ethical rounds?
- Learning to see things from a new angle, broadening thinking
- Gaining understanding of the opinions of others
- Improving ability to articulate ethical challenges
- Creating a safe space for disagreement
- Strengthened confidence to act
- Insight into moral responsibility
32
Potential risks of ethical rounds
- Feelings of distress
- Participants may feel defensive when their core values are challenged
- Can increase feelings of frustration and helplessness
- Breach of confidentiality
- Power imbalance/bullying
33
Define Utilitarianism
- Principle that weighs up benefits and harm
- Aims to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number
34
What are some issues with utilitarianism?
- Predicting outcomes
- Can justify immoral means to an end or gross inequality
- Debate about what is “greatest good”
- Doesn’t recognise rights of individual
35
What are some challenges faced with utilitarianism?
- Requires accurate prediction of outcomes
- Favours interests of majority over minority
- Favours the “lucky fool”
- Hard to compare “pleasure” with “harm” (e.g. animal experimentation)
36
What is meant by the lucky fool?
Someone who took a risk and won big but doesn't realise that their luck won't repeat.
37
What are the principles of Deontology?
- A decision/action is good if it conforms to a rule or norm
- Treat others always as ends in themselves, not as means to an end
- The only true “good” is good intention – it’s the thought that counts
38
What is Kant’s “categorical imperative?”
- Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become universal law.
- Act in such a way that you treat humanity...never as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end.
- The only thing truly good is a good will.
39
What are some challenges with dentology?
- Strict application of rules/inflexibility can lead to bad outcomes
- What happens when rights conflict? Right to life of animal vs human rights?
- What happens if there are no rules for *'this'* situation?
40
What are Virtue ethics?
- A moral philosophy that focuses on developing good character traits, or virtues, as the foundation for ethical behaviour
41
What do virtue ethics emphasise?
- Personal development
- Practical wisdom
- Questioning of personal values & motives
- How to translate intentions into actions
- Mentoring, role modelling
42
What are 5 important virtues in ethics?
Compassion
Discernment
Trustworthiness
Integrity
Conscientiousness
43
Compassion
An attitude of active regard for another’s welfare with an imaginative
awareness and emotional response of sympathy, tenderness, and discomfort at another’s misfortune or
suffering
44
Discernment
The ability to make fitting judgements and reach decisions without being unduly influenced by extraneous considerations, fears, personal attachments etc.
45
Trustworthiness
- Confidence that another person will reliably act with the right motives and feelings and in accordance with appropriate moral norms.
- To be trustworthy is to merit confidence in one’s character and conduct
46
Integrity
- In a general sense: Soundness, reliability, wholeness and integration of moral character.
- In a more restricted sense; the term refers to objectivity, impartiality, and fidelity in adherence to moral norms.
47
Conscientiousness
Motivation to do what is right because it is right, trying with due diligence to determine what is right, intending to do what is right, and exerting appropriate effort to do so.
48
What are some challenges with virtue ethics?
It can be hard to navigate conflict between different virtues, e.g. honesty, loyalty
- “Good” people can make “bad” decisions – when are they not virtuous?
- What if vices are considered virtues in some contexts.
49
What are the 4 principles of Principlism?
- Non-maleficence (don’t harm)
- Beneficence (do good)
- Justice (fairness, equality)
- Respect for autonomy (consent
50
What are challenges with principlism in a veterinary context?
- Autonomy is hard to apply to animals as our patients often owned
- Most interventions involve some harm
- Application of “justice” to animals is challenging
- Hard to weigh different principles
51
What are Fraser’s “practical” ethic for animals?
1. Provide good lives for the animals in our care;
2.Treat suffering with compassion;
3. Be mindful of unseen harm;
4. Protect the life sustaining processes and balances of nature
52
What are some challenges with Fraser’s “practical” ethic for animals?
- Unseen/unintended/unanticipated harms are hard to avoid
– Application of fourth principle challenging in a society predicated on animal use
53
What types of Ethical disagreements are there?
- Factual disagreements (e.g., about the level of suffering that an action will cause),
- Disagreements resulting from insufficient information or evidence (e.g., insufficient information about the benefit of a particular medication or surgical intervention),
- Disagreement about which norms or rules are applicable or relevant in the circumstances,
- Disagreement about the relative weights or rankings of the relevant norms,
- Disagreement about appropriate forms of specification or balancing,
- The presence of a genuine moral dilemma,
- Scope disagreements about who should be protected by a moral norm (e.g., whether embryos, foetuses, and sentient animals are protected)
- Conceptual disagreements about a crucial moral norm (for example, whether refusal to treat an animal with a life-threatening condition constitutes killing)
54
- Factual
- Insufficient information or evidence
- Which norms or rules are applicable or relevant in the circumstances
- Relative weights or rankings of the relevant norms
- What are appropriate forms of specification or balancing,
- A genuine moral dilemma
- Scope disagreements (who should be protected by a moral norm)
- Conceptual disagreements (about a crucial moral norm)
55
What is a key veterinary example of a Conceptual disagreement?
Whether refusal to treat an animal with a life-threatening condition constitutes killing
56
What are ethical dilemmas that vets commonly face?
1. How to proceed when clients have limited finances
2. Conflict between personal wellbeing and professional role
3. Whether to carry out the owner’s wishes that are not in the best interest of the animal
4. Challenging decisions about what counts as an essential veterinary service
5. Conflict between the wellbeing of household members and professional role
6. Whether to perform non-contact vet visits
7. Assisting other veterinarians who they believed were providing incompetent care
8. Performing euthanasia at all/for reasons they did not agree with
9. Suspected patient/pet abuse.
57
What are the most STRESSFUL
ethical challenges faced by vets?
1. Conflict between the interests of clients and the interests of their animals
2. Conflict between the interests of my employer and my own interests
3. Challenging decisions about how to proceed when clients have limited finances
4. Conflict between personal wellbeing and professional role
5. Conflict between the wellbeing of household members and professional role
58
What would a good veterinary team member do?
- Good character
- Use evidence to predict consequences
- Follow rules or at least behave in the way they would expect others to do so
- Respect rights
- Minimise harm while promoting good
- Consider patients ALWAYS
59
What are the limitations of veterinary ethics literature?
- Largely dominated by individualist animal ethics (emphasis on patients and professional duties)
- Environmental/ecological ethics seen as outside: ? Climate change, biodiversity loss, wildlife habitat degradation
- Non-owned animals (e.g. disease surveillance in wildlife)
- One Health: ? Health policy
- Western bias
- Focus on reasoning
