Institute:Office of National Coordinator (ONC) Workforce Training Curriculum
Component:The Culture of Health Care
Unit:Ethics and Professionalism
Lecture:Ethics and professionalism
Slide content:Codes of Ethics Examples: American Medical Association American Nursing Association International Council of Nurses American Health Information Management Association American Medical Informatics Association 16
Slide notes:Another way in which health care professionals may get guidance about a difficult ethical situation is to consult a code of ethics created by an organization related to their specific profession. For example, the American Health Information Management Association has a code of ethics for health information management professionals who are responsible for oversight of the patients record. The American Nursing Association has a code of ethics for nurses, and the American Nursing Informatics Association supports ethical behavior through its bylaws. When doctors in private practice have ethical questions, they might consult the American Medical Association Code of Ethics or the American Medical Informatics Association. Many health care professional associations have codes of ethics and directives on ethical behavior. In addition, doctors and other health care professionals may talk the situation over with their coworkers and peers. In some cases, they might even consult a medical ethicist [ eh - thih - sist ], a person who is specially trained to deal with ethical questions. Codes of ethics can be statements of current professional standards, or they can be aspirational, seeking to raise the standards of the profession. Some codes of ethics contain both obligatory and aspirational statements. A code that contains both kinds of provisions should identify the statements that are intended to be aspirational. A code of ethics may also be called an ethical statement, statement of professional conduct, or something similar. In this unit, the American Health Information Management Association, the American Medical Association, American Medical Informatics Association, and the International Medical Informatics Association are used to discuss the role of codes of ethics. 16