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Personal Ethics Development Constant Monroe University of Colorado PHL/325 Johnny Baskin January 26, 2010 Personal Ethics Development I make ethical decisions every day in my personal and professional lives. Some are easily made and others require some reflecting on the basis of the decision. Ethics is sometimes used interchangeable with values by some people. Pfeiffer & Forsberg (2000) defines values “as principles that help us make decisions implementing the ethical point of view (p. 6. ). My ethical beliefs were forming over the years. I had several influences, parents, job, life experiences, and the environment in which I was exposed.
My ethical beliefs are constantly being developed through training and experiences Organizations need ethical principles. According to Guido (2003), ethics provides structure for placing conduct into action. Define Ethics: Guido said “Many people envision ethics as dealing solely with principles of morality??? that which is good or desirable as opposed to that which is bad or undesirable” (p. 2. ). Barrocas, Yarbrough, Becnel, & Nelson (2003), defines ethics as a system or philosophy of conduct and principles, whereas morals give the boundaries for acceptable behavior.
Trevino & Nelson ( 2007), defines ethics as “a set of moral principles or values,” a definition that portrays ethics as highly personal and relative. Personal Ethics: Ethics plays an important part in peoples everyday lives. As we think about what ethics is, it will help us to understand why it is needed in every workforce and how it affects us as a person. When I think about ethics and the standards used to judge right or wrong of people’s behavior they might have toward others always reminds me to be ethical and fair. The relativism aspect of my ethics started with teachings from my parents.
My mother taught me always to treat others in the same way I would want them to treat me. Morals become a part of a person as he or she grows to exercise in his or her everyday living. My parents had 13 children, I am in the middle. My father was a smoker, but he forbade us from smoking. Two of my older brothers sneaked and smoked well until they were considered grown. As a younger sibling, my humanistic instinct let me know that certain rules were there just to be followed and not tested. It was instilled in us to say yes sir and no maam, this was rights-based.
Today children are taught to say yes or no, but my children are teaching their children to say yes sir and no sir. My teaching for knowing right from wrong started at home, reading the bible, going to church and my interactions in school, my community, and my work helped build my morals, values, and ethical system. I use my underlying ethical system to model and effectively make ethical decisions. An ethical dilemma that I faced October, 2007 when I was interim department unit director sometimes creeps into my mind. I was challenged in that position because I became boss over the people I worked with instantly.
My character and ethical business behavior are what helped me to succeed as a unit director among my peers. One of my coworkers had to be coached, mentored, sent to an eight hour computer class and gave one-on-one tutoring to help her with accurate and proficient documentation. The problem was that this registered nurse never adapted to EeMR (electronic medical record). She was an older nurse, that’s not the reason though, I am one also. The pieces were not clicking, a numerous amount of her work was going undocumented. This behavior was ongoing when the previous director was here.
Her insufficiency became more apparent as we started on our magnet journey. The other staff members were frustrated for a long time but were not empowered to do anything about it. I sent her to the new employee computer class; I did on to one tutoring. When she was told that she didn’t document something, she would swear that it was done and she didn’t know why someone was out to get her. I started printing the pages of the undocumented work. She was making numerous medication errors also. Some of the patients were afraid to have her as their nurse.
They said she took a long time to operate the pumps for their fluids and medicines. I had a duty base to the patients and an entitlement base to her to do what was necessary for the best outcome for all. I made a decision to ask her to retire or she could risk being fired. Human resources had enough evidence to let her go instantly. The criteria and decision- making factors I used in helping me to make sound ethical decisions are: recognizing a problem, developing an alternative course of action, evaluating all of the advantages and disadvantages that occurs, and mplementing the evaluated decision results. Organizations need ethics in order to achieve its direction and goals. The company’s message according to Damon (2004) “must have a center that holds a moral center that addresses the company’s responsibilities to the entire community of stakeholders, a center that has an interest in how the company operates” (p. 31). According to Treveno & Nelson (2007), “work settings, leaders, managers, and the entire cultural context are an important source of this influence and guidance.
If, as managers, we allow employees to drift along without our guidance, we’re unintentionally allowing them to be “controlled” by others” (p. 11. ). A person who doesn’t apply their inward principles with that of the organization will have a fragmented life in which certain aspects of his or her conduct will be in disharmony with his/her performance. Trevino & Nelson (2007) point was well taken when they said “ethical problems are not caused entirely by bad apples. They’re also the product of “bad barrels”???organizational systems that either encourage unethical behavior or merely allow it to occur” (p. 9. ).
Conclusion All of life’s experiences help to shape our ethical principles. Our character, morals, and values which were all formed from upbringing and the accumulation of values that are transmitted by schools, families, friends, work, environment, and religion. At my place of work, we have an ethical duty to our coworkers and the organization to hold each other accountable. Management must take responsibility for the messages it sends positive or negative about what’s expected (Trevino & Nelson, 2007). References Barrocas, A. ,Yarbrough, G. , Becnel, P. , & Nelson, J. E. (2003). Ethical and legal issues in utrition support of the geriatric patient: The can, should, and must of nutrition support. Nutrition in Clinical Practice, 18(1), 37???47. Damon, W. (2004). The Moral Advantage: How to succeed in business by doing the right thing. San Francisco, CA Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. Guido, G. (2006). Legal and Ethical Issues in Nursing. (4th ed. ). Prentice Hall Pfeiffer, R. & Forsberg, R. (2000). Ethics on the Job. (2nd ed. ). Wadsworth Publishing Company. Trevino, L. K. , & Nelson, K. A. (2007). Managing Business Ethics. Straight Talk About How to do it Right. (4th ed. ). John Wiley & Sons