THE ETHICAL TIMES                                         

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    Volume 1     No. 1                                                     Spring,2002                                         
Archived issues: Spring 2002
Workshops 
 April 24, 20002  1-2:30 pm
    Medical Campus    
     Room 2110
     Ethics, Cost, and Public Health: The New Meaning of Evidence-Based Practice co sponsored with Student Life. The speaker is the renowned  Dr. Ken Goodman, PhD, Director Forum for Bioethics and Philosophy, University of Miami.

To register send an email to the editor

Conferences

ANSA Conference
   October 31-November 2, 2002 the
Academy's Annual Meeting and Conference in Naples,
Florida. The conference theme is Closing the Gap in
Health Disparities.

 

To register send an email to the editor

Conferences

ANSA Conference
   October 31-November 2, 2002 the
Academy's Annual Meeting and Conference in Naples,
Florida. The conference theme is Closing the Gap in
Health Disparities.

 



Ethics Is In the Eye of the Beholder

by
Kate Callahan, RN, PhD.
Huntington Consultant Firm

“If its 2001-02 business Plan is to be taken literally, then promoting ethical government is no longer one of Miami-Dade County’s ‘guiding principles.’ County manager Steve Shriver deleted the mandate of ‘promoting ethical government,’ leaving only ‘promoting efficient and effective government’ in his November 29, 2001 plan. Shriver made the decision to drop ‘ethical government’ from the plan because he said ‘we should always be ethical so why have it in there?’” (Ross, 2002). Mr. Shriver is assuming that we all share his views and beliefs as to what ethical behavior looks like.
 This “take” on ethics by Shriver generated criticism late last year when he felt that the county’s mandatory ethics awareness training unfairly stigmatized employees subjected to the three-hour training course. Yet, If Shriver thinks “we should always be ethical,” where and how does he expect people to learn about ethics?  It’s clear if you look at some of the history of Miami-Dade’s politics, that there has been a dearth of ethical knowledge and therefore ethical behavior.  Also, Shriver’s comment brings out the point that ethics are more important to some people than others including himself as he states that his primary concern is efficiency and effectiveness in government rather than what I would like to see as a primary focus, ethical government.  In fact I believe that if you truly have an ethical government, the other two foci naturally will fall into place because people who act in an ethical manner can’t help but be efficient and effective. (Continued in Page 2)