Professional values and ethics go hand in hand. They are the corner stone of our career foundation as well as personal endeavors. Values and ethics help guide a person’s professional decisions in many ways. Which jobs to pursue, what form of career they want to have, and even what type of professional relationships they foster can all be guided by ones values and ethics. But what are values and ethics? Where do they come from? And how do they affect professional relationships?
Definition of values and ethics
When defining values and ethics, some people may first ask in what context these terms will be used? The truth is that both of these words are used in every aspect of a person’s life and they can change from day to day. A value is something that a person holds to a high standard. Values are things that are important to an individual. They are usually based upon experiences and history. (Hill & Howlett P319) Values change throughout a person’s life time by what kind of situation they are put in and even what kind of age group they are in at that time. For example, a family Christmas is important to most children in early and late childhood. As children get older, becoming adolescents and adults, they begin to understand that even though Christmas is important, things change and it becomes an ordeal to get everyone together. Values are adapted to the ideal of this being a high value and choose to move towards convenience.
When dealing with ethics, it can be thought of as a rule or a duty. (Hill & Howlett P 319) For example, in the field of nursing, the staff is held ethically responsible for proper patient care. For instance, ethical boards are in place to make decisions on ethics. Deciding on whether certain treatment of care should be provided, or to whom an organ donation should be given to, is their purpose. Many different situations involve ethical decisions. Those, in which ethics come into play often, are