Professionalism and Ethics Flashcards
(28 cards)
What is expected of a profession?
In return for their expertise, which they are expected to apply when delivering affordable/reliable services, and on the understanding that they will update their methods, train their members, enforce standards for their quality of work, and that they will only admit qualified individuals to their ranks, and that they will always act honesty in putting the interests of the client above their own, we (society) place our trust in our professions in granting them exclusivity over a wide range of socially significant services, paying them a fair wage, by conferring upon them independence and by according them respect and status
Justice as Fairness (Rawls)
- response to deficiencies of utilitarianism
- doesn’t believe utilitarianism provides a satisfactory account of basic rights/liberties of citizens as free and equal persons
- institutions (govt) should treat all persons fairly (class discrimination is unacceptable)
Justice as Fairness Strengths/Limitations
- Strengths: coherent ethical theory, veil of ignorance eliminates risk of ppl manipulating their attributes to their own advantage at the expense of others
- Limits: what exactly is justice? how should resources be distributed? contractarianism is anthropocentric
Social Contract Model
- contracts entered into by free rational ppl concerned w/ furthering their interests
- we agree to give up some freedoms in return for something else
- don’t actually exist in real life
Contract from Behind a Veil of Ignorance
- rational ppl develop the rules
- don’t know their future status, position, or natural assets (ensures a fair go for everyone)
Contractarianism
- ethical rules/norms derived from a contract/mutual agreement btw rational persons
Social Justice
- fair/just relation btw individual and society
- measured by explicit and tacit terms for distribution of wealth, opportunities for personal activity, and social privileges
Social Justice Issues for Vets
- use of animals
- accessibility of veterinary care
- vet practice currently predicated on animal use
The Use of Animals
- animal welfare view: social justice = humane and sustainable use of animals
- John Webster: Acting as moral agents, we need to take responsibility for the animals and the land, our moral patients. Need to have a fair compromise btw what we take (companionship, food) and what we give (good husbandry). Can only assume the right to control their life and death if we take the responsibility to give them a life worth living.
Animal Rights
animals are classified as property, denying them ability to bear individual rights and subjects them to ownership by humans
Non-Human Rights Project
- petitions common law courts to recognise that some non-human animals are entitled to some basic human rights such as bodily liberty and bodily integrity (based on evidence of higher thinking in certain animals)
- animals have some legal protection under POCTAA and Animal Welfare Act
Cambridge Declaration of Consciousness
absence of neocortex does not preclude an organism from experiencing affective states; humans are not unique in possessing neurological substrates that generate consciousness
Medication Error
- occur in ~9% of medication administration
- ~7.5% lead to patient harm
- drug given too late/soon
- wrong route of administration
- wrong meds given
- wrong dose used
- documentation errors
Heuristics
- mental short cuts/rules (pattern recognition)
- usually unconscious
- used in everyday life/vet setting
- can lead to errors bcz of biases
Swiss Cheese Model
successive layers of defences; likens human systems to mult. slices of swiss cheese, stacked side by side, in which the risk of a threat becoming a reality is mitigated by the differing layers and types of defences which are “layered”behind each other
Near Miss
unplanned event that did not result in illness, injury, or damage, but had the potential to do so; only a fortunate break in events prevented it from occurring
Barriers to Disclosure of Near Misses
- fear of litigation, consequences, or blame
- failure to recognise error
- “you’ve already suffered enough”
- minimisation (“ppl do a lot worse than that”)
Guiding Principles of Morals/Ethics
- non-maleficence - do no harm
- beneficence - do good
- autonomy - respect for autonomy of client/animal
- justice - treat all animals/ppl fairly
Virtue
- dispositional trait of character reliably present in a person
- quality of person and feeling/motive/trait that is thought to be a virtue by all impartial persons who consider it
Potential Harm in Disclosing Error?
- psychological impact on health professionals
- loss of confidence -> impacts further practice
- term “error” is inherently negative
- can perpetuate a culture of blame
- reduces public confidence
Professional Misconduct
unsatisfactory professional conduct of sufficiently serious nature to justify the suspension or cancellation of a vet’s registration
Unsatisfactory Professional Conduct
- conduct that demonstrates incompetence, or a lack of adequate knowledge in vet science
- conduct that demonstrates the vet not fit to practice bcz s/he suffers from an impairment
- providing knowingly misleading info relating to qualifications for registration
- acting in a way that can cause unnecessary suffering or death to an animal, adversely affect the health/safety of another human, or damage the international reputation of Australia regarding animal exports
Blame vs Learning
- RCVS wants to replace blame culture w/ a learning culture
- error leads to fear or blame, which can sometimes cause vets to cover up their mistakes, resulting in a missed learning opportunity and could impact animal welfare and public health
Conflict of Interest
- situation in which concerns/aims of 2 different parties are incompatible
- situation in which a person is in a position to derive personal benefit from actions/decisions made in their official capacity
