Describe the difference between personal and professional ethics.

What kind of impact, if any, can personal ethics and morals have on your professional practice? Finally, how does professionalism play a role in discussing ethical issues in this course?

Personal and professional ethics have many similarities, in that both can be based on good moral values, such as honesty, integrity, responsibility, and compassion. However, they differ when personal ethics are based on particular beliefs that are not based on logic or reasoning. One example would be the issue of abortion. Should a healthcare worker be employed by a physician who performs legal abortions, that workers beliefs about the morality of abortion has no place in the work environment. Most likely, the worker will have come to terms with this issue before employment, but no one working for this physician has the ethical right as to judge the patient receiving the abortion. Medical ethics are set by committees designated to do so, such as those formed by the American Medical Association. Personal ethics and morals can affect the way we care for our patients, usually in a good way. But if we have an aversion to a particular culture, then those values come into question. For example, it is professionally unethical to make disparaging remarks about someone whose faith is different than your own. It can also be a cause for litigation if that person feels their civil rights have been violated in some way. Working with diverse patients requires the healthcare worker to be impartial and fair to everyone. Professionalism is paramount in discussing ethics, as everyones opinion has value, and whether we agree or disagree with this opinion, is not the issue. We can choose to disagree, but we must do so in a manner that does not provoke or incite.