Professional ethics concerns the moral issues that arise because of the specialist knowledge that professionals attain, and how the use of this knowledge should be governed when providing a service to the public.

Professional responsibility

The professional carries additional moral responsibilities to those held by the population in general. This is because professionals are capable of making and acting on an informed decision in situations that the general public cannot, because they have not received the relevant training. For example, a layman member of the public could not be held responsible for failing to act to save a car crash victim because they could not give an emergency tracheotomy. This is because they do not have the relevant knowledge. In contrast, a fully trained doctor (with the correct equipment) would be capable of making the correct diagnosis and carrying out the procedure and we would think it wrong if they stood by and failed to help in this situation. You cannot be held accountable for failing to do something that you do not have the ability to do. Ethics are rules and values used in a professional setting (Changing Minds, n.d.). In the workplace managers and supervisors should set the standard for using ethics by showing respect, being honest, and promoting trust. If the management team uses unethical forms of communication, the team and business can fail. Ethics are used world-wide in large companies and small businesses. Promoting ethics in the workplace gives employees a sense of worth and trust that can help the business and employees succeed (Joseph, Joshua, 2000). This additional knowledge also comes with authority and power. The client places trust in the professional on the basis that the service provided will be of benefit to them. It would be quite possible for the professional to use his authority to exploit the client. An obvious example is that of the dentist who carries out unneeded dental work on his patients in order to gain more money. It is likely that the patient will not have sufficient knowledge to question what is being done, and so will undergo and pay for the treatments.

• Essays on Professional Ethics (2)

See also:

• Business: Management: Ethics (68)
• Science: Science in Society: Research Ethics (37)

• The Texas Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism
  txethics.org
  Intends to promote and enhance professionalism, ethics and civility among lawyers.
• Centre for Accounting Ethics
  arts.uwaterloo.ca
  The Centre for Accounting Ethics supports projects designed to enhance the teaching of ethics to accounting students and to research ethical issues in accounting.
• Professional Ethics Resources on WWW
  ethics.ubc.ca
  This page provides a hierarchical listing of resources on professional ethics available on the web.