You will prepare and submit a term paper on Select two moral or ethical principles and discuss how they could impact on the delivery of healthcare. Your paper should be a minimum of 1500 words in leng

You will prepare and submit a term paper on Select two moral or ethical principles and discuss how they could impact on the delivery of healthcare. Your paper should be a minimum of 1500 words in length. This paper seeks to address the ethical principles in healthcare and its impact on the care giver. What is medical ethics? Medical or health care ethics are guidelines that seek to find a common ground between the patient and the care provider. Healthcare, which was previously a more personal interaction between a doctor and a patient, has now given way to more commercial entity with lot of economics involved (Gabr, 2010). This is because it now involves the health service not just benefitting the patient but also providing valuable returns to the hospital financially. Limited resources also place a huge burden on the government, which is severely constrained to provide universal coverage for its people. Deficiencies in the medical system also cause ineffective treatment leading to wrong diagnosis and treatment. (Smith, Hiatt, and Berwick, 1999). In these aspects, ethical principles have evolved which seek to address healthcare as a basic fundamental right with the patient as the principal stakeholder. All efforts should be made to improve the condition of the patient and all institutions within the healthcare system should function in tandem to improve the quality of service. Ethical principles There have been a number of guidelines on ethics that have evolved which can be classified into four basic principles: 1. Autonomy deals with the right of the patient to take decisions for her/himself. This would require the health service provider to furnish all details of the disease to the patient and let him/her take a final call (Nelson, 2007). The shroud of secrecy that previously existed between the doctor and the patient should give way to a system in which the doctor makes the patient knowledgeable about the diseases, the pro and cons of resorting to a particular treatment and ultimately allow him/her to participate in taking a final decision. 2. Beneficence is a principle of providing a service which is beneficial to the patient and is provided by the care giver based on a sense of duty. The ultimate beneficiary should be the patient who should be able to get good treatment for the money he/she is being charged (Stewart and Chisholm, 1998). The carer should benefit from the services provided but not at the cost of the patient. 3. Non-malfeasance is an extension of beneficence as it urges those in the health sector not to take decisions or go for treatments that would adversely affect the patient or those who are in close proximity to the patient. Clinical freedom provides for the doctor to carry out treatments or administer drugs that, according to his/her sound medical knowledge, is best suited. (Stewart and Chisholm, 1998). However, if there is a disregard to the accepted rules of medical practice, then it would be trampling on patient rights. These areas of malfeasance would also include medical trials carried out on patients without their knowledge with drugs that have not been certified to use by the IMO. Administering drugs without fully disclosing the side effects to the patient or the impact it would have on ones that would come in contact with the patient also constitute malfeasance. 4. Justice is another ethical principle that constitutes the delivery of healthcare. Treatment and care should be given to all those who are availing it irrespective of caste, race, economic or religious prejudices (Stewart and Chisholm, 1998).