Then, the sarcastic and irresponsible comments rained down on you? Would you accept visiting a gynecologist you heard making fun of the shape of a patient's body who visits her clinic? Would you accept the appointment of a lawyer who knew someone from your neighbors and told you the story of their quarrel with their family, their separation from their wife, and the stories of two other clients mentioning the full names?
All these situations revolve around people who lack what is called "professional ethics," this deterrent, whose lack prevents the performance of the task in the required manner and privacy, and for which we deserve to dedicate many pages to explain its concept and how to apply it.
The Concept of Professional Ethics
The concept of professional ethics is one of the concepts that deserve sight and consideration before embarking on the practice of any profession. It is one of the topics that must be emphasized in all training, qualifying, and academic institutions, both educational and vocational, as it is one of the working conditions and one of the articles of its constitutions.
In the definition of this concept, several schools have emerged, including what has defined the concept of professional ethics as criteria and principles that regulate the conduct of employees in the performance of their duties in the working environment and control their interaction with their colleagues. The reference of these principles is to distinguish between error and correctness in any behavior or attitude occurring in the professional environment.
In another school, professional ethics was defined as the values, customs, and traditions all workers agree to adhere to in an institution, company, or sector. These values and customs guarantee the preservation of all their rights and duties, determine the foundations and rules for dealing with each other, regulate the behavior of each employee in the professional environment in which they work, and determine their duties towards their profession and toward their colleagues at work.
A third school put forward another definition of professional ethics: Professional ethics is a set of foundations and principles to be respected by everyone belonging to a particular occupational sector function or institution, which influence professional departments and decisions or the professional sector in general. They reflect the application of ethical standards between staff, their superiors, and subordinates and between staff members.
Professional ethics differ, and some professions may share some of these ethics. For example, not manipulating the weight and giving the true value of the weight of the commodity is one of the professional ethics for everyone who works in the field of buying and selling and who is forced to use the scale in their work environment from the grocer and the butcher to the jeweler.
Professional ethics may be the conflict between occupations, but certainly in the profession's interest. For example, confidentiality is one of the fundamentals of the psychotherapy profession. The attending physician must not divulge their patient's secrets before their family, but in the case of the school psychologist, sharing some information with naughty adolescents at school is essentially one of the basics of their profession and a step toward solving the problem.
Professional ethics is the evaluation schedule adopted by all employees in a particular institution or professional sector, based on which each position or task is tested and whether it is compatible with or in violation of the established standards. It is the criterion that regulates employees' dealings with each other and their dealings with their tasks or any third party in which work is the common denominator between them.
The Importance of Having Professional Ethics
The importance of adhering to professional ethics is evident in the quality of work provided by employees and a positive work environment based on respect and understanding. It also has positive repercussions on the employees themselves, the professional institutions in which they work, and society in general. We will explain this as follows.
The importance of adhering to professional ethics for employees:
- Helping employees to shape and refine their professional personalities positively and constructively.
- Helping employees build their careers in the professional field in which they work. This is because adherence to professional ethics keeps the employee in the work environment, increases the management’s adherence to them, gives them the professional expertise he needs, and qualifies them for promotions.
- Professional ethics is the criterion by which the actions and attitudes of employees are measured. Accordingly, they are directed and alerted to their mistakes, which are actions that contradict the profession's ethics, principles, and fundamentals.
- If professional assessments are made for workers in a specific professional sector, the employees who adhere to professional ethics will get an additional point in their professional record that increases their importance and the advantages and utilities of their presence in the work environment.
- Professional ethics protect the employee from slipping into negative attitudes and behaviors, help them to improve himself and his highness, and increase his confidence in his skills and habits. As an example, my friend, the nurse, tells me about a patient who insulted her while helping her get up and walk after her surgery. While the nurse was implementing the doctors’ recommendations and providing her services in helping the patient, her efforts were met with shouting and cursing. In this case, professional ethics stood in the way of my friend, the nurse, slipping into reciprocation of abuse. On the contrary, she understood the behavior of the patient in pain, who is not aware of the necessity of movement to remove the effect of anesthesia. She explained the importance of the act, calming her down, absorbing her anger, and managing her pain.
- The importance of the employee's professional ethics is evident in helping them make the right professional decisions, regardless of personal interests and other factors.
The Importance of Professional Ethics for Institutions and Companies
The importance of professional ethics for companies and institutions where employees work with high professional ethics is too great to be limited by definition and mention. By having a staff that performs its tasks to the fullest, deals with its colleagues and management with the utmost respect, and employs its skills and capabilities in solving work problems, serving customers and partners, companies rise to prestigious ranks, refute all competitors in the market, and leave a positive and effective imprint on society.
The professional ethics of the employees is reflected in the professional reputation of the institution and increases the demand for it. For example, let's go to a restaurant for the first time and admire the professional ethics of its employees from the kindness of its customer service staff, the integrity of the accountant, the skill of the cook, and its use of clean and sober raw materials. We will become its regular patrons and rate it positively on social media pages. This will make its reputation good in the surroundings.
Having an ethical employer in an institution will ensure that its secrets and information remain away from those of competitors and enemies. Also, having employees with high professional ethics raises professional confidence in them in performing tasks. When a house cleaning company has employees with high professional ethics and trustees of the homes they enter and perform their duties with dedication and perfection, customers will be assured of them and will hand them the keys to their homes and offices confidently.
The Importance of Professional Ethics for Society
The importance of employees' professional ethics through its positive reflection on society because individuals who deal with their professions with high morality will deal with the same good morals as individuals in society. This is because professional ethics reflects individuals' values and beliefs that regulate their behavior towards attitudes and people.
A person with high professional ethics will be the object of respect and affection of others. This reflects on their self-confidence and makes them feel accepted by society, so they enthusiastically engage in its activities and events.
Professional ethics helps to reduce negative activities and hostile behavior towards others and contributes to the achievement of social justice as well as to the achievement of professional justice. It also clarifies the concept of laws and rules control an individual's entry into any new society or occupation, in addition to its role in developing feelings of consent among individuals and promoting feelings of belonging among colleagues of the same profession and the bonds of respect towards colleagues in other professional sectors.
Examples of professional ethics for some professions
Each occupation has professional ethics and ethical controls that regulate its functioning and control employees' interaction with each other and members of society. Some examples of professional ethics include:
1. Doctor's professional ethics
Professional ethics in medicine dictates that the doctor respect their patients, value the privacy of their bodies, and understand their desires to accept or refuse treatment. It also requires them to do their best in the treatment process and to provide it to every person in need irrespective of their gender, race, or religion, and not to harm the patient and work with the sole aim of achieving the patient's interest, including not promoting any solution or treatment that is not in their interest.
2. Professional ethics in law
Professional ethics in the legal profession dictates that the lawyer maintain the privacy of their clients, not disclose their secrets, achieve the right, spread justice among people, do justice to the oppressed, and defend humanitarian issues.
3. Professional ethics for pharmacists
Professional ethics dictate that a pharmacist should not promote any pharmaceutical product that contravenes health standards and causes harm to the patient. It also prevents them from selling indiscriminate/random medicines to people without a prescription and prohibits them from monopolizing pharmaceutical products and trafficking forbidden medical substances that harm people.
In Conclusion
Professional ethics are rules and concepts that all workers must enjoy in different professions.
This is because these ethics would have a positive impact on the worker themselves, on the professional institution in which they work, and in the society in which they live and because professional ethics is a reflection of the sublime values held by individuals that reflect the extent of their sophistication and humanity and push the wheel of civilization forward in society.
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