Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice

Ethics to some is an intuition of what is right or wrong, and to others it is right or wrong defined by laws, rules, codes, or culture standards. Ethical standards and codes are essential in the professional world, especially in a clinical setting. Ethics guide reactions and interactions from which ethical decisions are made. A code of ethics is a set of written principles regarding conduct and behavior created by the organization to serve a guide. The purpose of ethical codes is to give its employees, management, and any interested party a reference point that adheres to company policy, standards, and ethical beliefs. The code is made visible to the public t ensure professional integrity, quality, and to prevent misguided conduct. Regardless of the organization or governing body a code serves as a go to guide because ethical issues can stem from anywhere at any given time.
Ethical standards initiate the foundation of what is right or wrong. So what are ethics? According to Resnik (2010) “the most common way of defining ethics are norms for conduct that distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behavior but could also be defined as the disciplines that study standards of conduct or a method, procedure, or prospective for deciding how to act, analyze problems and issues”. The ethical norms for conduct formulate standards and codes of expected behaviors. According to Levy, (1974) “codes of ethics are at once the highest and lowest standard of practice expected of a practitioner, the awesome statement of rigid requirements, and the promotional material issued primarily for public relations