else. When something threatens the soundness of the
body, mind, or spirit, an individual may behave
inappropriately.
Occasionally, there are temper
outbursts, episodes of pouting, sarcastic remarks,
unreasonable demands, or other inappropriate
responses, often to the point of disruptive behavior.
The healthcare provider is challenged to look beyond
the behavior being displayed to identify the underlying
stress and to attempt to relieve the immediate and
obvious source of anxiety. This may be as simple as
communicating, through your care and understanding
of the patient as an individual, that Navy medicine is
pleased to provide a caring service.
PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Recognize the
concept of professional ethics.
The word ethics is derived from the Greek ethos,
meaning custom or practice, a characteristic manner of
acting, or a more-or-less constant style of behavior in
the deliberate actions of people. When we speak of
ethics, we refer to a set of rules or a body of principles.
Every social, religious, and professional group has a
body of principles or standards of conduct that
provides ethical guidance to its members.
During your indoctrination into the military, you
were introduced to the Code of the U.S. Fighting
Forces. This code of conduct is an ethical guide that
charges you with certain high standards of general
behavior as a member of the Armed Forces.
All professional interactions must be directly
related to codes of behavior that support the principles
of justice, equality of human beings as persons, and
respect for the dignity of human beings. Upholding
medical ethics is the responsibility of all Hospital
Corpsmen. Upon completion of basic Hospital Corps
School, you took the following pledge:
I solemnly pledge myself before God and
these witnesses to practice faithfully all of my
duties as a member of the Hospital Corps. I
hold the care of the sick and injured to be a
privilege and a sacred trust and will assist the
Medical Officer with loyalty and honesty. I
will hold all personal matters pertaining to the
private lives of patients in strict confidence. I
dedicate my heart, mind, and strength to the
work before me. I shall do all within my power
to show in myself an example of all that is
honorable and good throughout my naval
career.
This pledge morally binds you to certain
responsibilities and rules that are included in the
science of medical ethics. Ethics, whether they be
classified general or special (e.g., legal or medical),
teach us how to judge accurately the moral rightness
and wrongness of our actions. The one element that
makes healthcare ethics different from general ethics is
the inclusion of the moral rule, Do your duty. This
statement is a moral rule because it involves
expectations (e.g., of confidentiality). It involves what
others have every reason to believe will be
forthcoming. Failure to fulfill these expectations is to
do harm to your clients (i.e., your patients) and/or your
colleagues. Through the Hospital Corpsman Pledge,
you committed yourself to fulfilling certain duties, not
only to those entrusted to your care, but also to all
members of the healthcare team. It is this commitment
to service and to mankind that has traditionally
distinguished the United States Navy Hospital Corps
wherever its members have served.
PERSONAL TRAITS
LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Recognize
important personality traits of a healthcare
professional.
A Hospital Corpsman must develop many personal
traits that apply to all petty officers. You can get a
general understanding of them by referring to Military
R e q u i re m e n t s f o r P e t t y O f f i c e r T h i rd C l a s s
(NAVEDTRA 12024).
The following traits, however, apply especially to
your Hospital Corps duties and are essential for good
performance.
INTEGRITY
Nowhere in the Navy is the need for personal
integrity so great as in the Hospital Corps, where we
deal continually with people, their illnesses, and their
personal problems.
The information that we have
access to falls into the category of privileged
communication. We, as Hospital Corpsmen, have no
right whatsoever to divulge any medical information,
however trivial, to any unauthorized individuals.
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