Medical Ethics Case Study

After Dr. Ballerina took up her first management position, which was that of the Head of the Paediatrics Department at the NU Hospital, her role changed from a medical professional to a manager. Previously as a doctor, her primary function was to examine patients’ health, diagnose illnesses and recommend appropriate treatments. After being promoted to the Head of the department, her core responsibilities changed and her focus shifted from her patients to her fellow colleagues and subordinates as she mostly had to perform management roles which included interpersonal, informational and decisional roles. For example, she had to carry out the leadership role, which is one of the interpersonal roles, to motivate her fellow medical doctors and

Ethics are the moral principle that govern a person’s behaviour; allowing them to discern right from wrong. In any healthcare organisation, all members must recognise responsibility to patients and medical ethics is at the heart of it all. Healthcare professionals must adhere to a strict code of ethics as patients put their trust in them on providing competent medical care and advice.

According to the Principles of Medical Ethics outlined by the American Medical Association [1], all medical professionals must uphold the standards of professionalism, be honest in all professional interactions; strive to report physicians deficient in character or competence, or engaging in fraud or deception. This resonates clearly in the case scenario whereby esteemed neurosurgeon Professor Mave Rick had been going against the medical code of ethics by implementing experimental treatment method on patients without their knowledge or prior consent. One the one hand this act clearly violates the fundamental principle of medical ethics but on the other hand Dr. Rick was called out by a whistle-blower; an ethical act demonstrated by his junior

The change in behaviour is displayed by the actions of lab division technicians whom feel shortchanged attempt to skip work and this caused disruptions to their department. With reference to case, one example of dealing with inequity is illustrated by the distorted self-perception of the lab division technicians. These technicians felt that they are under-rewarded because they put in the same amount of effort and time into their work but the outcomes are appealing to them. They felt that they performed equally well and hence voiced out the inequity they felt and got the outcome they desired. This involves the management making changes to the compensation policies and the technicians felt fairly rewarded to continue working as they did