Explanation should include
- the similarities and differences among the meanings of the terms ethics, professional ethics, personal ethics, ethical behavior, and work ethic
- ethical dilemmas, ethical considerations, and ethical decision-making
- individual value systems
- the role of a home health aide in controversial situations (e.g., end of life, withholding care, patient refusing treatment)
- the importance of ethical behavior in home health care
- situations in which the home health aide may be requested by the family to work extra duties or additional hours outside the agency’s contracted obligations.
Process/Skill Questions:
- Why are issues such as receiving gifts ethical dilemmas for a home health aide?
- What is the importance of an individual’s value system as it relates to autonomy, accountability, standards of conduct, and the withholding/withdrawal of food and fluids?
- How might ethical considerations factor in issues such as right-to-die and donor-recipient allocations?
- How do ethical issues differ from legal issues?
- How can confidentiality be an ethical as well as a legal issue?
- Whom might the home health aide consult if the patient refuses treatment?