Using the attached interview questions, write a reflective essay including the following:

Interview: Conduct an interview with a leader in healthcare focusing on ethical leadership. Prepare your interview questions in advance. Questions to consider:

1.From a leadership perspective, how do you promote and support an ethical climate (culture of safety, culture of candor)?

In these times, it can be very difficulty to establish a working environment that protects all employees. One of the most important methods is to have open communication with employees and coworkers and create a setting where all feel open to communicate their thoughts and events. There are times where confidentiality is needed, and in such cases, other ways of communication are offered such as email or contacting a third party outside of the department such as human resources or a designated third party. The other most critical item that musty be required of all employees to is to take a standardized employee education session, offered online and completing a quiz at the end to test their knowledge. The education sessions include topics such as harassment, examples of inappropriate work environments and other topics. This can support leadership if there is an infarction to take immediate action, otherwise employees may say they did not know any better.

2.What are your most common and most significant ethical challenges in healthcare today?

The most prominent changes in healthcare for patients and employees has been in relation to gender identity. Terminology is being evolved therefore medical charting documentation as well as sensitivity in the workplace is constantly having to be evaluated to ensure the proper ideas are being portrayed in a non-offensive way. When at one time a person’s sexual orientation was the main topic, we have now branched out from various types of sexuality as well as various gender identifications. This can pose the need for updates in the workplace for bathroom facilities for example to include and make a safe environment for all. In regards to medical needs, the born gender of a patient is important as medical conditions can vary based on male or female.

3.What does he/she as the moral foundation for the healthcare system today? Currently, morality within organizations are demonstrated through their mission statement and vision or goals. Creating a simple statement for an organization is a great way to take a complicated situation and compare it to what the goal of the organization is and see if it falls within what those ideas are. Moral foundation itself isn’t exactly written out, however upon hiring, many organizations have employees review policies that review improper behavior within the workplace or with patient care as well as addressing legal issues such as HIPAA. There have been many acts and laws created to protect individuals, patients and employers which has allowed leadership to use when attempting to resolve issues.

4.What does he/she believe should be the moral foundation for our healthcare system? The moral foundation for healthcare is a difficult discussion as there is no golden rule. For patient care, as new medical interventions and medications are discovered, the ethical views can border a fine line. Patients and populations are becoming more aware of such ethical dilemmas therefore more advanced care directives are being completed. This has been a great way to maintain a patient’s dignity. Unfortunately not enough of our population has completed these, which suggests community education would be recommended. For employees in the work environment, standardization of education for all employees remains a pivotal item to implement in the workplace. While America has many advancements and opportunities for patient care and work life, various types of healthcare systems exist throughout the world. It would be beneficial to review such systems and perform an analysis to deem if any points may be applicable to another healthcare system.

5.Where do you look for guidance in resolving ethical challenges? Ethical challenges use resources that are different when its patient care versus employees. For patient care, a care team is generally put together comprised of physicians, nurses and family can be involved at times. It is a good way to review the case of the patient at an open table discussion and have input from all involved in the care. Many physicians have communications with other physicians as a peer network with their patients. These are great ways to ensure decisions aren’t being made by only one person and therefore can be resolved if there are any concerns. For employees, an ethics committee is a great way to deal with ethical challenges. The team should generally be composed of employees not part of the same division so that there isn’t a personal influence. They are presented the situation and as a team come up with ways to resolve the problem.

6.Other topics of discussion to consider: Moral courage, moral distress, moral resilience. When ethical challenges do arise, it is encouraged to have teams already in place to address the situation. A workflow process should be utilized to ensure accurate review and proper resolving of such issues. When an employee or coworker faces viewing another being unethical, it takes moral courage to stand up and say something. Creating work environments where employees feel safe not only with their coworkers but also in whistleblowing is important. Understanding rules of retaliation can help protect employees as well as employees.

7.Address topics you feel are relevant and/or helpful to better understand the role of ethics in healthcare administration. Seminars are a great way for leadership to stay current on topics that may arise in healthcare. Just as medical professionals need to take their licensing exam every other year or so as well as continuing education,, leadership should also be actively involved in furthering their own knowledge on current events.