Resources
Ethics in healthcare comes with its own set of terms and common practices.
Please select a subject below to learn more.
Code of Ethics
St. Boniface Hospital has a robust Code of Ethics to help guide staff, patients and families. To learn more about the code, please watch this video, or click HERE for a written document.
Principlism
Principlism is an ethical approach that can guide you through complex decision making in health care. Principlism uses four guiding principles that can support you in decision making in a way that balances the values of the patient with goals of care. Working through an ethical approach, such as principlism, can assist in decreasing moral distress by having a systematic way to support ethical decision making.
Health Care Directives
In a situation where you are unable to communicate decisions for yourself, health care professionals refer to your Health Care Directive. A Health Care Directive provides clear detailed information about who you want to make decisions on your behalf (Health Care Proxy) and what type of care and treatment you wish to receive or not receive.
Health Care Proxy
A Health Care Proxy document is a legal document that names a person that you trust to make health care decisions when you are unable to speak for yourself. A Health Care Directive also allows you to give another person power to make decisions for you in a situation where you are unable to make them yourself.
Resource Allocation
When resources are limited due to supply shortage, funding, lack of staff or during times of crises such as pandemics, war or natural disasters, health care professionals are responsible for finding a way to provide care fairly and equitably. This requires difficult decisions and ethical considerations. Having an ethical foundation can assist in understanding resource allocation, especially during times when resources are scarce
Harm Reduction
Every day we take some form of risk and we can choose to take steps to mitigate these risks. In health care, harm reduction refers to taking steps to reduce the negative effects of health behaviors without necessarily stopping the behavior completely. This includes mitigating effects of risky behaviors such as sex work, injecting illicit drugs and living unhoused. Harm reduction principles can be applied to a variety of different behaviors that lead to negative health outcomes.
