Personal code of ethics in sonography

Background of my Code of Ethics

A personal code of ethics entails basic principles and values that direct an individual on how they interact with others. When governing a person’s social and professional behaviour, the code of ethics must impact positively on experience of the others with least negative impact (Dr. Ron Jenson, 2018). My code of ethics, as featured in the text, was derived from Harvard Business School MBA Code of Ethics. The students and graduates of the Harvard Business School developed and promoted the code of ethics, although quite their major was quite unrelated to sonography. The following text represents an outline of my core values and ethical standards according to sonography.

My core values

The first value that governs my practice is care. As a professional in sonography, I must provide what is necessary for the health, maintenance and welfare of the sonography patients. The manifestation of care must also point toward protection of the patients from any foreseeable harm within and beyond healthcare facilities (Rider et al., 2014). The second value that is important to my practice is respect. Respect in this case refers to due regard for the wishes, feelings and rights of the patients I would interact with and my fellow healthcare professionals. In this regard I must be aware of what patients consider to be respectful in addition to extending autonomy to them. The third value is team work, which in this case entails the practice of collaboration and improved communication in expansion of the traditional roles among the healthcare workers.

When employing teamwork in healthcare delivery, the decision is made as a unit, through consultation of the multidisciplinary team present in healthcare department (Guraya, London & Guraya, 2014). Creativity and innovation in creating effective solutions is also part of the core values. In this case, I would strive to use original ideas in solving sonography related challenges as well as in making decisions. Informed imagination and inventiveness would also be instrumental as I bring perspectives from other areas and applying them in sonography.

My Ethical Standards

Some of the ethical standards that would govern my profession are as follows. First, I will understand and uphold all the laws and contracts that govern my conduct in sonography as a healthcare profession (Dr. Ron Jenson, 2018). This will be applicable for as long as I identify myself as a sonographer in the healthcare profession. Secondly, I will protect the dignity and rights of the patients I interact with, while I oppose any form of discrimination fashioned against patients. The patients in this case must not only be sonography patients. I will also attend to my patients with loyalty and care without advancing my personal interests at the expense of my patients, the healthcare profession and the healthcare facility. Additionally, I will respect the autonomy of the patients and the fact that patients have a right to refuse a procedure. I will also hold an obligation to promote the safety of the patients during and after the sonography procedures. As a professional in sonography, I will report the performance of the sonography equipment to the technical team stead by, while I also explain the procedure to the patients beforehand as explained by Guraya, London and Guraya (2014).

Profession Code of Ethics Section

Diagnostic sonography otherwise known as medical ultrasound entails a diagnostic imaging technique that is based on ultrasound application. High frequency sound waves aid in viewing of internal body structures like blood vessels, internal organs, muscles and tendons. The main purpose of sonography in the medical field is ruling out a particular pathology and finding the actual source of a disease.

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Summary of the code of ethics

The first item that defines code of ethics in sonography is provision of information to patients on why the ultrasound is being conducted on them (Sdms.org, 2018). The questions that arises in that process must be answered to the best of the knowledge of the professional. Secondly, the sonographer must respect the autonomy of the patients and appreciate that the patients have a right to refuse a sonography procedure. The comfort, dignity and the privacy of the patients must also be promoted through participation of the sonographer in explaining the positioning of the patients, examinations and competent implementation of draping techniques (Sdms.org, 2018). During the sonography procedure, the sonographer must demonstrate promotion of patient safety, while at the same time maintaining confidentiality of the patient information. The professional standard definitive of sonography must at all times be upheld by the sonographers through adherence to the operating technical protocols and the already peer reviewed diagnostic criteria.

Additionally, the legal and personal limits must be acknowledged by the professionals in ultrasonography. Closely related to this is the fact the professionals in the sonography must assume responsibilities for all the interventions made on a patient. Some of the values that are pertinent in sonography include honesty/being truthful (Dr. Ron Jenson, 2018). Respects to what is regarded as patients’ rights and avoidance of conflict of interest and instances that may be defined as misrepresentation of information are also important in the code of ethics. Other core values that govern sonography include equity, teamwork among the professionals, and collaboration among departments, care and compassion to the patients, creativity and innovation.

My personal code of ethics versus professional code of ethics

In both personal and professional code of ethics, there is a deliberation to promote and protect the rights of the sonography patients. For instance, as a sonographer, I must ensure that the patients enjoy the privacy and confidentiality right. On the same note, if a patient refuses to see or talk to anybody irrespective of the relationship, that remains as their right (Ochonma, Eze, Eze & Okaro, 2015). Also. Both personal and professional code of ethics promote patient safety and deliberate in promoting the safety of the patients. For instance, patients must be protected from exposure to ultrasound that may be deemed as hazardous or inappropriate. However, while my personal code of ethics observes that there is a need to understand and uphold the laws and contracts that govern my conduct in the profession, the professional code of ethics emphasizes that the legal and personal limits must be acknowledged by all the professionals in the field (Genuis & Lipp, 2013). Also, the professional code of ethics strongly advocates for the truth as a value in promotion od appropriate communications with the patients. On the other hand, my personal code of conduct considers care and compassion towards patients as most crucial of the values, although in both, care and honesty are captured as important values.

The personal and the professional code of ethics will impact greatly in my decision-making process. For instance, I will learn to involve those whom I am working with in the medical field when making crucial decisions (Genuis & Lipp, 2013). Through the appreciation of the rights of the patients, will be able to provide appropriate information to the patient regarding the purpose of any imaging technique before embarking on it. As such, the patient consent will be respected. The involvement of the patient and other professionals in healthcare will also mean that such decisions will be less flawed, and the life of the patient will be well taken care of through promotion of safety during the sonography procedures.