Biomedical subjects

Brian O'Toole

Publications and source records attributed to Brian O'Toole.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Four ways we approach ethics.

Most people use four different approaches when making ethical decisions. Some people use one approach predominantly, while others vary their approaches according to the circumstances. In either case, the approaches usually are chosen unconsciously. A main source of conflict in decision making occurs when two parties argue or negotiate their positions from different moral approaches, for these different moral approaches are not convincing to one another. People may be persuaded to change their minds only when a stronger position is raised within their own moral approach. The different moral approaches are the principle, consequences, virtue/character, and moral sentiment approaches. Conflicts in decision making can become easier to resolve when decision makers first recognize they are using different moral approaches and then choose to negotiate within the same moral approach.

Culture↗

PubMed2006

Promoting access to oral health care: More than professional ethics is needed.

I suggest that an appeal to professional ethics alone is inadequate to leverage significant behavioral change among dentists to provide or to promote access to oral health care for all regardless of the ability to pay. Presuming that access to oral health care is desired, however, then efforts in professional ethics must be complemented by strategic appeals to the personal values and even to the self-interest of dentists. In addition, if dentists as a professional group publicly elect or decide to value access to oral health care in a manner similar to how a health care organization can choose its values, then lessons can be drawn from organizational strategies to assist in cultivating and fostering among dentists the commitment to and implementation of this value. I believe that a combination of these and undoubtedly many other approaches is needed if there will ever be a professional commitment by dentists as a professional group to value access to oral health care.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMedDate not supplied

St. Louis system has Corporate Ethics Committee. Sisters of Mercy Health System has developed an approach for assisting in the integration of ethics and operations.

Despite the relatively recent advent of organizational ethics committees--created to address operational concerns that are not always appropriate for a clinical ethics committee to take on--there remain impediments (such as time constraints, limited ethical expertise, lack of senior leaders at the table, and waning interest of members) to the impact such a group might have. Committed to addressing operational concerns in a meaningful and "value-added" way, and mindful of the challenges that can limit the effectiveness of organizational ethics committees, the St. Louis-based Sisters of Mercy Health System developed an approach that has proven successful. Without changing the committee's goals-education, policy, and consultation-Mercy's renewed Corporate Ethics Committee was restructured to include ethical experts, people knowledgeable about particular issues, and people with authority.

Ethics Committees↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Hiring for "organizational fit". A St. Louis system has developed tools for assessing candidates' compatibility with the organization.

To a great extent, the continued success of Catholic health care organizations is dependent on the selection of co-workers and leaders who are committed to carrying on the organization's mission. The Sisters of Mercy Health System, St. Louis, uses three tools to help leaders be more consistent and objective in assessing employment candidates for organizational fit. The first tool involves behavioral-based interviewing, which looks at a candidate's potential for future behaviors based on his or her past behaviors. The second tool assesses a candidate's values in such a way that accounts for and reduces the interviewer's own subjectivity. And the third tool-values-based interviewing-helps reveal a candidate's natural aptitude for, interest in, and personal agreement with the organization's charism, religious heritage, and values.

Behavior↗