Being a part of any industry within the United States, it’s critical to stay current as the world is constantly changing. The world is just settling into the new normal after the pandemic that struck in 2020. To bypass another societal risk of this magnitude it’s important to create programs that help adapt to changes. These programs will include a training plan, an ethics program, and how compliance within the organization will be evaluated. Within this paper, these topics will be analyzed and discussed so that we see why such programs are important.

Global Risk

During the height of the Coronavirus pandemic, the world was shut down. Everyone had to adapt to this new way of life. There were many precautions put into place to keep everyone safe. We were required to wear masks, social distance ourselves, and quarantine for a specific number of days if exposed or diagnosed with the virus. This whole new way of life brought about challenges for those working in the office or adapting to working remotely. Everyone reacted differently to the pandemic. Although many lost their lives, some questioned whether it was real or a ploy by the government. Then there were those that lived in fear of ever leaving their homes and then there were those that were trying to navigate this new normal way of life.

It became evident that most organizations were not prepared for something like the pandemic. Hospitals were not exempt from this, especially small-town hospitals that weren’t accustomed to large-scale breakouts of any kind. Everything was happening so quickly that it was hard for the hospital executives to stay on top of the constant changes from the CDC as well as making sure their staff and patients were as safe as possible. Teams were put into place to help ease the burden but with all the mandates and the rising numbers, it became an obstacle to receiving the necessary supplies because everyone needed the same resources therefore creating a shortage worldwide. Every country around the world was feeling the effects of the pandemic. It was creating massive resource shortages and hospitals were seeing a rapid increase in their turnover rates, but hospital admissions were off the charts everywhere.

Ethical Decision-Making

Ethical decision-making is not easy under normal circumstances but becomes even more difficult during times of turmoil. There are many things to consider and weigh before making a decision. When evaluating an ethical action, one should include moral reasoning. This is when an individual points out why an action is morally correct. An individual uses their characteristics and an ethical thought process to make this decision. This can be broken down into two parts. The first is that an individual who displays kind characteristics generally always makes the ethical right decision. The second part of this is that the individual will look at doing what’s right to conserve a relationship. This agent-centered philosophy centers around the ethical status of people and worries less about the morals of the specific action.

An individual’s characteristics are an indicator of whether or not to partner with them. An individual who displays moral responsibility generally makes good decisions. This is known as virtue ethics. Virtue ethics looks at the significance of setting good examples in ethical responsibilities.

Moral reasoning is using logic to know the difference between right and wrong. People can be motivated by a lot of different things when looking at morality. When making an ethical, moral decision, an individual should first understand what they are hoping to accomplish with this decision, what are the consequences of this decision, and how it will affect others. Moral reasoning is used to do the right thing when making a moral decision.

For an individual to be morally effective, they need to have that moral inclination that helps them utilize good virtues, values, and conduct. Four factors help with an individual's moral reasoning and can be used to execute an ethics plan. These factors are as follows:

1. Moral imagination: this means to look at all the individuals involved and all the possibilities before making an ethical decision about something. This helps to create a sense of stability between the person making the decision and the values of others involved.
2. Moral creativity: this is being able to look at a situation and identify, interpret, and implement new moral values.
3. Reasonableness: this concept helps to instill honesty in others will committing yourself to your moral values and goals. In other words, someone can be open to other ideas or opinions but can maintain their own ethical standards.
4. Perseverance: is using a moral decision or plan and being able to make the necessary changes to reach the end goal.

An updated ethics training program has been needed since the pandemic happened. This new plan will have new guidelines and regulations that will help employees understand the organization’s new mindset moving forward as well as make the right decisions. The code of conduct will aid the employees down the right path when looking at their norms, societal norms, and the organization’s expectations. This new realignment will help the employees understand what is expected of them and help reduce any risk of misconduct. All employees will be expected to complete this new training program and will be required to complete a quarterly refresher course. To measure the success of this training program, a yearly audit will be conducted by a random selection of employees. Topics that will be discussed under this new program will be:

• How other facilities worldwide are affected by disruptions such as a pandemic.
• Maintaining updated PPE and proper use of it.
• The importance of working together during a crisis.
• Legality issues that could arise from a crisis such as a pandemic.

Training Plan

A new training program will help the organization align with the societal risk that goes along with a crisis such as a pandemic. Although a hospital is equipped to handle many situations, the suddenness of the Coronavirus and the enormous impact that it had worldwide made it difficult to keep up. Not having an updated plan led to uncertainty, misconduct, and a general overwhelming feeling of helplessness. A new program will appeal to the employee's lack of concern and disregard for any existing ethical concerns. This new training program will incorporate the following factors:

Goals

1. Enhance the knowledge and skills needed to have a better performance of job tasks.
2. Provide the necessary information to help employees to make the right decisions.
3. Help employees become re-aligned with the organization's values, strategies, and goals.
4. Help employees become re-aligned with the organization’s culture on ethics, moral standings, and compliance.

Objectives

1. Identify the individual needs of the employees.

2. Help employees understand the importance of feedback.

3. Provide the employees with the resources needed to apply specific concepts to their everyday environment.

4. Identify areas of concern and address any ethical questions/issues.

It’s important to have measures in place that show how successful the new ethics training program is. Executives want to be able to measure the effectiveness of this new program and see that the time and resources put forth to make this new program were worth it. These evaluations will also show if any adjustments or changes need to be made going forward. How this will be measured will be through the number of courses completed per employee.

Another way in which we will evaluate the success of the program will be through yearly audits. These will be done to ensure that the organization is meeting the required standards and procedures that have been put into place. This will be a separate audit from that done by joint commissions every other year. This audit will be conducted by an unaffiliated outside source every year and will provide the organization with insights into any potential issues or concerns. It will be an unscheduled audit to give the auditor a clearer picture of how things run daily.

Conclusion

In conclusion, by implementing this new ethics program, employees will gain access to the knowledge and skills needed to do their jobs successfully. The pandemic faced healthcare systems worldwide with an onslaught of challenges which is why it’s critical to establish a new ethics and training program. Having this new program will help re-establish confidence in all healthcare employees so that they can provide the best possible care to every patient no matter the situation.

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