Introduction

Ethics is about the values that should be respected by all healthcare workers while interacting with individuals, families and communities. Ethics may sometimes be considered a scary term by some healthcare professionals because it is a word that may bring to mind an accusation of wrongdoing or mistakes, but this is not the case.

In this study session you are going to cover the concepts and principles of ethics that are relevant to your work as a health professional. This will enable you to identify some of the most important ethical issues and then find out how to work to resolve them. Working to clear, consistent ethical principles is one of the most important components for delivering quality healthcare for individuals, families and the community at large.

This study session mainly focuses on ethical issues that you may face in your day-to-day practice and introduces some of the mechanisms you can use in order to resolve them.