(Ebook) Conscientious objection in health care : an ethical analysis by Mark R Wicclair ISBN 9780521514316, 9780521735438, 0521514312, 0521735432

(Ebook) Conscientious objection in health care : an ethical analysis by Mark R Wicclair ISBN 9780521514316, 9780521735438, 0521514312, 0521735432

Historically associated with military service, conscientious objection has become a significant phenomenon in health care. Mark Wicclair offers a comprehensive ethical analysis of conscientious objection in three representative health care professions: medicine, nursing and pharmacy. He critically examines two extreme positions: the 'incompatibility thesis', that it is contrary to the professional obligations of practitioners to refuse provision of any service within the scope of their professional competence; and 'conscience absolutism', that they should be exempted from performing any action contrary to their conscience. He argues for a compromise approach that accommodates conscience-based refusals within the limits of specified ethical constraints. He also explores conscientious objection by students in each of the three professions, discusses conscience protection legislation and conscience-based refusals by pharmacies and hospitals, and analyzes several cases. His book is a valuable resource for scholars, professionals, trainees, students, and anyone interested in this increasingly important aspect of health care ''The subject of this book is conscientious objection in health care and the principal aim is to provide an ethical analysis of conscience-based refusals by physicians, nurses, and pharmacists. Before considering ethical issues, however, it is essential to understand what conscientious objection is, which calls for conceptual analysis. A person engages in an act of conscientious objection when she refuses to perform an action, provide a service, and so forth on the grounds that doing so is against her conscience. In the context of health care, physicians, nurses, and pharmacists engage in acts of conscientious objection when they: 1) refuse to provide legal and professionally accepted goods or services that fall within the scope of their professional competence, and 2) justify their refusal by claiming that it is an act of conscience or is conscience-based''--Provided by publisher.  Read more... Three approaches to conscientious objection in health care: conscience absolutism, the incompatibility thesis, and compromise -- Ethical limitations on the exercise of conscience -- Pharmacies, health care institutions, and conscientious objection -- Students, residents, and conscience-based exemptions -- Conscience clauses: too much and too little protection