The code of conduct in the workplace governs employee behavior, decision making patterns, compliance, and other essential processes. As such, healthcare professionals must adhere to the stipulated codes of conduct to ensure that quality care is achieved. Additionally, employee codes of conduct ensure that the staff gain a solid background on plausible ethical practices at work (Duncan, 2010). One of the hospital establishments that utilize employee codes of conduct is JPS county hospital whereby employees are required to adhere to all stipulated provisions (JPS Health network (n.d). In this regard, this paper addresses the nature of the code of conduct at JPS hospital, and how employees can be educated on the proper approach of adhering to the codes of conduct.
The employee code of conduct at JPS is exceptional in that it is comprehensive and covers most parts where ethical dilemmas are likely to arise in healthcare. The information is worded into sections and explains how employees should interact with different people in the facility. The first section covers the relationship between employees and the patients who visit the hospital (JPS Health network (n.d). Holistically, employees are required to conform to the four major ethical principles that improve the quality of care that the patients receive. In addition, the relationship between employees and other stakeholders to the hospital is stipulated in the code of conduct. In essence, employees should practice utmost prudence when dealing with colleagues, their employers, the public, and legal structures that regulate healthcare services (JPS Health network n.d). In the long run, issues of malpractice and discrimination are eliminated.
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The second section covers the codes of conduct relating to emergency care for patients. Patients admitted to the hospital’s emergency services should not be discriminated regardless of their financial status. The approach makes the hospital to provide unparalleled services to the public. Moreover, the codes of conduct stipulate procedures aimed at preserving the integrity of patient data and ensuring that confidentiality thrives (JPS Health network, n.d). The lack of privacy is an ethical drawback that the hospital avoids through the stipulated codes of conduct.
Conflicts of interests are common in healthcare, as practitioners utilize healthcare equipment and opportunities for personal gain (Duncan, 2010). Therefore, the third section covers the guidelines that govern against conflict of interest for employees, which warn against colluding with suppliers and competitors to jeopardize the functionality of the JPS county hospital (JPS Health network, n.d). Lastly, the fourth section stipulates the guidelines that govern employee behavior in the workplace such as codes for sexual harassments that may occur in the hospital, and codes for refraining from violence, concealing weapons in the hospital as well as drugs (JPS Health network, n.d). Issues of discrimination on racial grounds, ethnic backgrounds, and religion are also discussed in the section.
Nonetheless, some issues are not adequately presented in the codes of conduct. Despite the presence of codes that govern against data and confidentiality breach, adequate controls are not put in the electronic records. Moreover, the codes of conduct do not cover aspects of process improvement in the healthcare facility. In essence, the codes of conduct should stipulate rules that ensure employees achieve the highest level of productivity (Martin, 2013). Consequently, it is essential to devise ways that teach employees all aspects of ethics that are covered in the codes of conduct. For example, in the modern age of digital interaction platforms, the hospital can create an online social platform to act as a teaching tool that can incorporate rewards to get employees interested. The rewards can be provided in the form of scores to award the best prizes for employees who adhere to the teachings of the ethical codes of conduct.
References
Duncan, P. (2010). Values, ethics and health care . Los Angeles, Calif: SAGE.
code of conduct - EthicsPoint
JPS Health network (n.d) Tarrant country hospital district code of conduct business ethics .
Retrieved from https://secure.ethicspoint.com/domain/media/en/gui/46651/code.pdf
Martin, W. (2013). Beyond the Hippocratic Oath: Developing Codes of Conduct in Healthcare
Organizations. OD Practitioner , 45(2), 26–30.
