Ethics: Origin, Leaders, and Professional Codes PDF

## Ethics ### Origin of Ethics - The word "ethics" is derived from the Greek word "ethos", which means custom or guiding beliefs - Ethics is defined as a set of rules or principles that govern right conduct and is designed to protect the rights of a human being. - Ethics is a branch of philosophy;...

## Ethics ### Origin of Ethics - The word "ethics" is derived from the Greek word "ethos", which means custom or guiding beliefs - Ethics is defined as a set of rules or principles that govern right conduct and is designed to protect the rights of a human being. - Ethics is a branch of philosophy; it is moral philosophy or philosophical thinking about morality, moral problems and moral judgments. - The origin of ethics is very **vague**; it depicts that in the olden days ethics was considered to be bravery. - Becoming a strong leader for the tribes by defeating the enemies and believing and worshipping the natural forces such as air, water, land, fire, earth and light in the form of the sun formed the ethical values of their life. - It is important to learn the root of a word to understand its full concept. - Ethics was not obeying moral values, but developing and framing themselves. ### Three Important Greek Leaders Who Portrayed the Importance of Moral and Ethical Values in the Ancient Period 1. **Socrates** - A person having good ethical sense achieves “internal harmony” of the parts of the soul, whereas doing evil things will “damage the soul”. Socrates gave importance to honesty, and truth was always considered to be good than doing injustice. This was considered to be the highest moral value in humans. 2. **Plato** - Ethics refers to the qualities such as courage and bravery that need to be acquired in life to become a strong leader. Plato made only a few contributions to the concept of ethics. 3. **Aristotle** - Ethics is explained as “eudaimonia”, which means happiness, prosperity and success. According to him, a good-hearted citizen should possess the quality of eudaimonia, which was considered to be the highest target for each human being to achieve an ethical life. He taught society that possessing the quality of fixed virtues and habits such as courage, justice and temperance is important to lead a moral life. Each citizen should acquire good intellectual ability and activity to have an ethical sense. ### Professional Ethics - **Professional ethics** is a set of standards adopted by a professional community and it encompasses a greater part of a professional’s life. - The concept of professional ethics partly deals with what a professional should or should not do in the workplace. - **Professional codes of ethics** regulate the manner in which professionals conduct themselves while in the workplace and include concepts such as professional respect, avoidance of dishonesty or plagiarism. - Another important aspect of professional codes of ethics is professional development of the individual and enhancement of the profession. - **The code of ethics** defines the kind of conduct expected of the members of a profession. It is also used to guide professional behaviour, plan instruction, prevent the below standard practice, protect a nurse if falsely accused, and provide direction for legal action. - **Nursing ethics** refers to the values and ethical principles governing nursing practice, conduct and relationships between the nurse and patient, patient’s family, other members of health profession and general public. - **Nursing ethics** refers to the professional standards and behavior that helps a nurse to carry out the nursing care in a manner that results in good to patients and community. - Nursing ethics is a branch of nursing that deals with the activities involved in the field of nursing. It provides the professional standards for nursing activities, which help to protect not only the nurse but also the patient. ### Professional Ethics in the Workplace - In the workplace, the professional managers and supervisors should set the standard for ethics by showing respect, being honest and promoting trust. - If the management team uses unethical forms of communication, the team and business can fail. - A professional has more moral responsibilities than those held by the population in general. This is because professionals are capable of making judgments and acting on informed decisions in situations that the general public cannot because they have not received the relevant training.