What do we mean by moral courage and why is it important for a health administrator to base their behavior and decisions on moral and ethical grounds?
We can define in simple words that moral is a set of norms, values and beliefs existing and accepted in a society that serve as a model of behavior and assessment to establish what is right or wrong.
Moral courage is a quality that we must develop to determine when it is essential during decisive moments in defense of our established beliefs or rights. We can say that moral courage accompanies the ethics of virtue, which emphasizes the role of a person in fulfilling the duty to bring good consequences according to their actions based on what is right.
According to Murray (2007), understanding the importance of moral courage aids healthcare leaders to demonstrate moral courage when they face ethical challenges and the creation of an ethical environment. Moreover, a good understanding of our moral courage helps us face the inevitable ethical questions and guides us at a time when doing the right thing is not easy or popular. To do so requires moral bravery, and a firm conviction to do what is ethical.
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Making important decisions correctly based on what is right is one of the most complex and delicate challenges that health care administrator face. The good development and productivity in the health care services provided in the health care organization will depend to a large extent in the balance achieved on those decisions. There is usually no worse decision than the one we do not take. Indecision almost always causes frustration and failure, so the health administrator should always base his judgment on what is right regardless of the different opinions of criteria.
According to the Code of Ethics of the American College of Healthcare Executives (2017), Healthcare executives have an obligation to act in ways that will merit the trust, confidence and respect of healthcare professionals and the general public. Therefore, healthcare executives should lead lives that embody an exemplary system of values and ethics (ACHE Code of Ethics, 2017).
The effects on an organization and in others by the health administrators ethical model or behavior will depends on the bases that he promote his decisions, for example, if a health administrator bases his decisions on unethical or illegal ground to seek a greater economic benefit, it can harm the entire group of people who work in the organization and therefore will affect the health care services provide to the patients, especially if the people affected are against the application of those measurement are against their morals. This would cause an internal conflict between the different parties in the long term, it will suppose a fracture in the system of the organization, translating in a loss of profit and productivity.
When an administrator bases his conduct and decisions on a moral framework, such decisions tend to have better results since they are more accepted and comfortable, usually people within an organization seek different results and act for varied motivations; therefore, health administrators have to take into account several dimensions of their actions, which include material benefits, but also psychological, social and ethical variables since the results are seen in health services.
References
- Understanding and Supporting Moral Courage in Healthcare
- Moral Courage in Healthcare: Acting Ethically Even in the Presence of Risk
- Moral Courage in Ethical Decision Making
- Developing Ethical Leaders: The Impact of Moral Reasoning and Practical Wisdom on Moral Courage Among Practicing Healthcare Administrators
- The Role of Moral Courage in Reporting Human Trafficking: Training Implications for Health Professionals
