‘Medical Ethics’ are becoming ever more prevalent in the national health service, and patient safety is now one of the most important issues hospital staff face in the 21st century. Both ethics and safety work in tandem in institutions such a hospitals, and doctors, nurses, surgeons and indeed specialists now have to deal with preventing hospital infections in an ethical manner. However, infections are just one of many issues such staff face. Staff are now keen to make sure their places of work are calming environments, rather than intimidating and scary. This is simply ethical. Patients who are already worried about visiting a healthcare establishment should not be put under any further stress, and staff are now putting into practice certain provisions to ensure that is this not the case.
Organisation and communication are the key issues here, and when considering that healthcare-associated infections have, at times, become rife in lesser quality establishments, and one in ten patients acquires a HAI according to the Department of Health, these buzzwords – ‘organisation’, and ‘communication’, are perhaps more important than ever before. One way in which hospital staff are becoming more ethical in their approach is by passing on knowledge and expertise to the patients, instead of overawing them with medical jargon. Patients are now being educated about using blood thinners safely, as this has become an issue, with many problems arising from misuse. Patients who have had surgery before often leave the hospital with a new prescription for a blood thinner, such as warfarin (Coumadin), to prevent them from developing dangerous blood clots. However, if misused, drugs such as warfarin can cause devastating illnesses.
Therefore, by investing some time in speaking one-on-one with the patients, hospital staff are communicating more directly, and therefore really drilling in the concept of patients minding their own safety when at home or at work.