Conflicting Moral Priorities Resulting from Cultural and/or Religious Diversity

How does one decide on which moral norms should prevail in the clinical setting?

I actually found that this topic was very interesting.  Right from Chapter 1, Beauchamp and Childress (2009) state that "particular moralities…contain moral norms that are not shared by all cultures, groups and individuals" (p. 5).   To me this means that at times some may feel it is necessary to introduce their particular norms into the clinical setting, as held by their particular beliefs or culture.  This reminds me of a surgery that I underwent a few years back.  Without going into too many details, the condition was a result of certain life activities that I had been involved in.  One of the nurses took it upon herself to relay her Christian beliefs to me and to basically tell me how I needed to change my life based on her particular moral beliefs.  At the time, and because I was under duress, I did not pay much attention to her, but now I see that what she was doing had no place in the clinical setting.  You see, even though her beliefs where relevant to her, this could have caused tension between the medical facility and myself.  Richard Sloan wrote an article in the LA Times and expressed this sentiment; "we all are free to practice our religion as we see fit, as long as we do not interfere with the well-being of others by imposing our religious views on them."  He went on to say "Freedom of religion is a cherished value in American society. So is the right to be free of religious domination by others. 

So the question is which moral norms should this nurse have chosen?  Well certainly, her particular moral norms should have no place in the clinical setting.  I believe that in this setting, because of the influx of such a wide diversity of persons coming and going, all professionals should adhere to the common morality and if a particular morality is chosen it should be professional moralities that define the guidelines for health care professionals.

Beauchamp and Childress (2009) lay out 10 examples of moral character traits when it comes to the common morality.  These are non-malevolence, honesty, integrity, conscientiousness, trustworthiness, fidelity, gratitude, truthfulness, lovingness and kindness.  These are the types of traits that should be displayed first and foremost in the clinical setting.  When it comes to professional ethics, eHow.com contributor Stephanie Mitchell puts it this way, "Codes of ethics come into play when simply knowing the difference between right and wrong is not enough, and such situations arise around patients' rights, patients' dignity, equitable access to treatment and the development of new medical technologies. Medical codes of ethics help ensure that healthcare professionals make the best possible choices when faced with difficult decisions."

Beauchamp, T. L., & Childress, J. F.  (2009).  Principles of Biomedical Ethics (7th ed.).  New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Mitchell, S. (n.d.).  The Purpose of Professional Ethics in Healthcare.  eHow.com.  Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/info_8404364_purpose-professional-ethics-healthcare.html

Sloan, R. P.  (2008 August 23).  When religion and healthcare collide.  LA Times.  Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/la-oe-sloan23-2008aug23,0,4637656.story