HESM 103 Role Of The Healthcare Environmental Services Manager
Question:
Are there any competing ethical principal? if so how do you decide which principal outweigh other?
Answer:
Organ donation / transplant refers to the willful giving out of body parts, organs or tissues to help others whose parts have been damaged. Some of the most common organ donations include heart, lung, liver, cornea, kidney and skin among others. There are various ethical principles involved in organ donation.
According to Gallagher, Skaro, & Abecassis, (2016) the main ethical principles involved in organ donation include beneficence, non-maleficence and informed consent. There are also ethical values such as societal beliefs and the influence of religion and human dignity. Beneficence refers to working in the best interests of both the donor and the recipient, non-maleficence refers to the least possible harm. This requires that the donation is done after considering the least possible harm to both parties. Lastly, the informed consent process needs to be followed as all the parties need to have access to information that guides their choice.
There is a contradiction between the principle of beneficence and that of non-maleficence. This is observed in the sense that while organ donation may be done in the best interests of the receiver, on the other hand it doesn’t cause the least possible harm to the donor. In fact, organ donation is a potential harm for both the donor and the recipient as it may provide route for infections such as HIV, complications such as agglutination and incompatibility and increased risk to the donor as they lose vital body organs. In this case however, it is prudent to elevate the principle beneficence over that of non-maleficence as non-maleficence although risky seeks to preserve life and does not necessarily cause real harm to either party (Dalal, (2015).
References
Dalal, A. R. (2015). Philosophy of organ donation: review of ethical facets. World journal of transplantation, 5(2), 44.
Gallagher, T. K., Skaro, A. I., & Abecassis, M. M. (2016). Emerging ethical considerations of donation after circulatory death: getting to the heart of the matter.
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