Can Your Code of Ethics Be Wrong? Lonna Shelton-Soward Liberty University Abstract In counseling, whether Secular or Christian based it is crucial to understand and practice ethical codes. Similarities and differences in the American Counseling Association (ACA) code of ethics and the American Association of Christian Counseling (AACC) code of ethics, aim to do no harm. In the AACC Code of Ethics it clearly states, “Christian counselors acknowledge that the first rule of professional-ministerial ethical conduct is: do no harm to those served.” (AACC, Section, ES1-100, p.9). Counselors advocate change at all levels to improve the quality of life for individuals or groups, while eliminating obstacles that make it difficult to receive proper services.
For example, one of the Ten Commandments ‘Thou shall not kill’ should not be broken and is applied to situations such as the death penalty or abortion. This links to the divine command theory. This is a meta-ethical theory which proposes that what is moral is determined by God and that to be moral is to follow his commands. This theory claims that morality is ultimately based on God and the right action is the one that God requires. The divine commands vary in religions but in the end, they all have in common that moral obligations depend on God.
REFLECT ON AND DEVELOP YOUR PRACTICE 1 Legal and organisational requirement on equality, diversity, discrimination and rights when working with individuals others to improve your knowledge and practice: The way we respond to people is linked to what we believe in, what we consider to be more important or what interest us. As a professional career we need to be aware that we work with vulnerable people so it is very important to make them feel good and provide our services to meet their needs. Careers should provide the same quality of care to all service user, not just for those who share their beliefs or view but to other service user from other culture or religion background. It is the right of service users to expect the best possible quality of care from those who provide it and high quality care requires all practitioner to regularly reflect on their own practice and look at ways of improving The care standard Act 2000 lay down the rule of trained staff which all care organization or establishment must have. The Human Right Act 1998 gives all service user the right to be treated with respect, dignity and receive the best possible care they deserve.
Equality is about fostering and promoting the right to be different, to be free from discrimination, and to have choice and dignity and to be valued as an individual, with the right to your own beliefs and values. Health and social care services should meet the needs of people from all backgrounds. You should not be treated less favourably than anyone else because of your beliefs or your religion or because of any other characteristics you may poses. Equal opportunity is about addressing representation and balance, but is a term used in workplaces to describe the measures taken by organisations to ensure fairness between staff and patients. It means treating people as individuals, with different skills and abilities, without making judgment based on stereotypes.
This is covered under Standards 2.01b, which is Boundaries of Competence, and 2.03, which covers Maintaining Competence (Fisher, 2013). Once that identification occurs, there are several things to be aware of. First, as individuals, we all have our own religious and spiritual beliefs, but as professionals we must be careful to not impose those beliefs on others. We also have to be careful not to use our position to coerce others into accepting our beliefs. Principle E of the Ethics Code covers the respect for people’s rights and dignity, and Standard 3.08 covers exploitative relationships (Fisher, 2013).
Unit 9 Understanding requirements for handling information in health and social care settings. 1.1 Identify legislation and codes of practice that relate to handling information in Health and Social Care The Data Protection Act 1998 - This Law protects personal privacy and maintains individual's rights, it gives rights to the people that the information is about. Data subjects it puts obligations to the people who hold the information. If you do not abide by this law it is a criminal offence and will be prosecuted. Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that creates a public "right of access" to information held by public authorities.
Duty of Care: Definition Duty of Care is a legal obligation to always act in the best interests of everyone to ensure that those receiving healthcare services receive safe and appropriate care and safe from danger and misuse. It is a code of practice that should be adhered to by healthcare professionals in everything they do to ensure they stay within the legal requirements for their role and to ensure that they are protected in the event of a claim of malpractice or negligence. It is also important that healthcare professionals act with independence as they are responsible for the wellbeing of those they care for. They must stay within their own professional competence and confidence levels and do all that they can to keep those receiving care from them safe from harm, as those they look after are often the more vulnerable members of society. The healthcare professional must always keep front of mind that with this kind of role comes a certain amount of responsibility.
Promoting anti-discriminatory practice All the staff must to Following principles and values to make sure that the service users who come to the care home are treated equally, respected and promoted. They have to make sure that they treat everyone fairly and equally, always be honest with everyone so they can be free to talk to workers use empathy as a way of understanding their problem or situation and this helps to protect their rights as an individual. All the staff should respect service users' backgrounds, languages, cultures and religions. All the Staff have to make sure that even with someone's disability to learn that they get the same choices as any other person would. For example when you making activity for users make that that activity is easy and be able to understand for service users so they can make that all the service users right and project.
It is important we work in this way in order to promote individuality, this allow individuals to make informed decisions and choices, as well as understand the consequences as well as possible risks of such decisions and choice that may well relate to their own health and wellbeing. We must do this within the appreciation of rights within the care value base. We can uphold this by empowering individuals to maintain their own independence. Each individual should have the right to privacy which encourages that person to maintain dignity and self-respect. Whilst respecting the individuals diversity cultures and values.
Unit 1 Principles for implementing duty of care in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings 1 Understand how duty of care contributes to safe practice (a) What it means to have a duty of care in one’s own work role A duty of care is a legal obligation to all Health and Social carers and professionals who have to act in the best interests of individuals and others, also not to act or fail to act in a way that results in harm. This duty of care can be a general implied minimum standard of care or can be outlined in different codes of practice or guidelines in various legislation. This duty of care can also be more specific and defined in specific legislation for example Equality Act 2010 or the COSHH regulations 2002. Carers and employers have to ensure that this duty of care is practiced and achieved. Employers adopt this duty of care into their training and operating procedures so it is central to how they conduct their practice.