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:Beneficence The idea that actions of health care providers should benefit people Prevent problems that may occur Treat problems that have occurred Widely accepted as an appropriate goal of health care Applied at individual level and population-wide level 7
Slide notes:The principle of beneficence simply means that health care providers should do things that benefit the patient. This includes both actions meant to prevent problems and actions to address problems the patient is already experiencing. The idea of beneficence is commonly recognized as one of the main purposes of health care. The idea is applied at the level of individuals and the level of populations. For example, giving antibiotics to a patient with pneumonia applies the principle of beneficence at the individual level. Giving elderly patients the opportunity to be vaccinated against pneumonia applies the principle at a population level. 7