Introduction
Ethics is very important for the human society, and various organizations establish their codes of ethics for their members to follow the organizational ethical values. The American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) also has its code of ethics (ACHE, 2009) and this paper focuses on my ethical self-assessment as guided by the Ethical Self-Assessment tool provided by the ACHE and put into the context of the Ethical Theory.
The ACHE Ethical Self-Assessment is a test answering the questions of which a person might get an idea of what his/her ethical grounds are. This self-assessment focuses on leadership and relationships as two major ethical means, and in this paper I reflect on how my ethical grounds can be assessed and integrated into the Ethical theory according to the results of the ACHE Ethical Self-Assessment.
Self-Assessment Findings
Thus, after using the ACHE Ethical Self-Assessment tool, I have managed to find out numerous interesting details about my behavioral patterns, the decision techniques I adopt and actions I commit as a rule (ACHE, 2009). On the whole, I can say that my working and relationships behavior is rather ethical, although certain improvements are still needed. The areas where improvements are necessary differ on the basis of the measurement standard adopted. If I assume that answers Almost Never and Occasionally reflect the drawbacks of my ethical ground, and the answers Usually and Always are acceptable, my results will differ from the results I would have if all answers but Always are considered unacceptable. I am more inclined to assess myself based on the second variant.
Accordingly, in respect of leadership the Ethical Self-Assessment has helped me realize (as I answered only Usually meaning that there might be some exceptions) that I lack courage and consistency in making reasonable and appropriate management decisions. Also, I understood that I need to put my statements and actions in better accordance with overall human ethics and the ACHE Code of Ethics (ACHE, 2009). Finally, I need to improve my conflict solving practices and make them more ethical and effective.
Ethical Theory Identification
Based on these findings, I can see the gaps in the ethics of my working behavioral patterns I adopt while communicating with my colleagues, senior officials, and patients. It is ethical theory that helps me understand this fact. On the whole, as Heikes (2009) argues, ethical theory is one of the numerous branches of ethics.
Ethical theory, according to Heikes (2009), is the theoretical branch of the normative ethics that, as contrasted to the descriptive ethics, considers the ideal ethical values as they should be rather than as they are currently taken by human beings. Moreover, scholars like Buzzle (2009) and Fieser (2009) determine three major ethical theory branches that include metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics dealing with general notions, certain ethical values, and specific real life ethical issues respectively (Buzzle, 2009; Fieser, 2009).
On the grounds of these considerations, I think that it is normative ethics that applies to me and the self-assessment of my ethical features. As the ACHE Ethics Code is the set of norms defining what ACHE members should perceive as ethical and moral actions and beliefs, it is the matter of normative ethics. Consequently, the findings of my self assessment are also the subjects of normative ethics as in these findings I try to assess the extent to which my behavioral and communicational patterns in ACHE conform to the norms established (ACHE, 2009).
Self-Assessment and Ethical Theory
Drawing from this, the integral importance of the ethical theory for my self assessment becomes evident. For instance, if the ethics of my relationships with the community is taken into consideration, the activities I tend to do are not always conformant to the norms of the ethical theory.
Yet I fail to devote more time to community services and healthcare promotion. As well, I need to work more on my attempts to involve other people, including the ACHE, managers in the community services during their private time (ACHE, 2009). Clinical care is another problematic area as to conform to the ethical theory I need to always act with the emphasis on the needs of patients and high quality healthcare, but there might be cases, for example with organizational clinical problems, when my ability to control the problem solution fails due to the assumed lack of attention I pay to this point (ACHE, 2009).
Conclusions
Thus, concluding this paper it is necessary to state that ethics, and ethical theory as its part, is rather important for the development of partnership and cooperative relations between the human beings and organizations in the society. ACHE as a social organization dealing with healthcare also has its code of ethics to guide the corporative and outside actions and beliefs of its members. Based on the results of my ethical self assessment, I can conclude that my results do not display strict conformity to the ACHE’s standards and basic of the Ethical Theory in some of the points and I need to work more to improve these areas of my activities as an ACHE member.
References
ACHE. (2009). Ethics Self-Assessment. Web.
Buzzle. (2009). Understanding Ethical Theory. Buzzle Staff and Agencies. Web.
Fieser, J. (2009). Ethical Theory. Web.
Heikes, D. (2009). Introduction to Ethical Theory. PHL. Web.