Whistleblowing: Betrayal or Public Duty?

Introduction When an employee discovers unethical, immoral or illegal actions at work, the employee makes a decision about what to do with this information. Whistleblowing is the term used to define an employees decision to disclose this information to an authority figure (boss, media or government official). Whistleblowing leads to good and bad results. First, the benefits of carefully considered whistleblowing can lead to the end of unethical business practices. The lives of individuals and whole communities have been saved by whistleblowers. evere damage to the environment has been stopped by the actions of one individual who blew the whistle on an unethical employer. !t the same time, an employee who witnesses unethical business practices at work may want to think carefully before making the decision to inform an authority of the practice. The conse"uences of whistleblowing are often e#treme and include possible firing, civil action, or even imprisonment. $thical %ustifications for whistleblowing are fre"uently uncertain (cf. &ok '()*, &owie '()+, ,uska '((-). Ethics of Whistleblowing !n employee has a significant obligation of loyalty to a company, however, the duty of loyalty is not absolute. it is a prima facie duty that can be overridden in certain circumstances. These conditions are worked out by &owie (p. ')+. cited in /iten '((0, p. '1) in some detail2

that the act of whistleblowing stem from appropriate moral motive of preventing unnecessary harm to others. that the whistleblower use all available internal procedures for rectifying the problematic behavior before public disclosure, although special circumstances may preclude this.

that the whistleblower have 3evidence that would persuade a reasonable person. '

that the whistleblower perceive serious danger that can result from the violation. that the whistleblower act in accordance with his or her responsibilities for 3avoiding and4or e#posing moral violations. that the whistleblowers action have some reasonable chance for success. There are four indicators when should whistleblowing be attempted2 need,

proximity, capability, and last resort. 5 5 5 5 Need, there must be a clear and important harm that can be avoided by blowing the whistle. Proximity, the whistleblower must be in very clear position to report on the problem. Capability, the whistleblower must have a reasonable chance of success in stopping the harmful activity. Last Resort, whistleblowing should be attempted only if there is no one else more capable or more pro#imate to blow the whistle. Types of Whistleblowing Whistleblowing can be distinguished based on e#ternal and internal whistleblowing, External whistleblowing is the whistleblowing carried outside the company and reported to newspaper or law6enforcement authorities. Internal whistleblowing is the whistleblowing is kept within the company or organi7ation. !lso, whistleblowing can be divided into anonymous and acknowledged whistleblowing, anonymo s whistleblowing is that the whistleblower refuses to divulge his name when making accusations. Whereas, !c"nowledged whistleblowing is that the whistleblower puts his name behind the accusations and willing to withstand the scrutiny brought on by his accusations. Guidelines for whistleblowing The list of guidelines for whistleblowing (8i7abeth $ngland, &ussiness $thics /olume, 9h. 0) helps an employee to determine if a situation merits whistleblowing. '. :agnitude of conse"uence !n employee considering whistleblowing must ask himself or herself these "uestions2 ;ow much harm has been done or might be done to victims< Will the

victims really be =beneficiaries=< >f one person is or will be harmed, it is unlikely to be a situation that warrants whistleblowing. +. ?robability of effect The probability that the action will actually take place and will cause harm to many people must be considered. !n employee should be very sure that the action in "uestion will actually happen. >f the employee does not know if the action will happen and if the action will harm people (or the environment), the employee should reconsider his or her plan to blow the whistle. @. Temporal immediacy !n employee must consider the length of time between the present and the possibly harmful event. !n employee must also consider the urgency of the problem in "uestion. The more immediate the conse"uences of the potentially unethical practice, the stronger the case for whistleblowing. 0. ?ro#imity The physical closeness of the potential victims must be considered. For e#ample, a company that is depriving workers of medical benefits in a nearby town has a higher pro#imity than one ',*** miles away. 1. 9oncentration of effort ! person must determine the intensity of the unethical practice or behavior. The "uestion is how much intensity does the specific infraction carry. Preventing Whistleblowing For a companys point of view, whistleblowing can lead to a bad image of the organi7ation though there is no company can free from such failure. ;owever, a company can prevent whistleblowing by applying following rules2 5 5 5 5 There must be a strong corporate ethics culture. There should be clear lines of communication within the corporation. !ll employees must have meaningful access to high6level managers in order to bring their concerns forward. There should be willingness on the part of management to admit mistakes.

ase !tudy >n '((A, &arry !dams, a registered nurse (BC) working on a sub6acute care unit in a Cew $ngland hospital, blew the whistle on unsafe health care practices that he observed in his work setting. !dams became increasingly concerned about the "uality, safety, and dignity of patient care as the hospital implemented staffing cuts and cost containment measures. ;e carefully documented unsafe practices and correlated these with inade"uate staffing and a lack of ade"uate supervision of ine#perienced nurses. There was an increased incidence of patient falls, instances where patients were left to lie in their own urine and feces, treatments not being completed, and serious medication errors. These incidents resulted from a substantial increase in the nurses patient assignments. For three months, !dams and other nurses followed precisely the process outlined by the organi7ation to communicate concerns to hospital administrators. ;e soon reali7ed that the administrators were not interested in using the information he provided to correct the situation. in fact, he was harshly critici7ed for collecting this information. ;e then decided to proceed with a variation of the traditional saying2 =>f its not documented, its not done= and, instead, adopted the approach2 =>f its not done, document itD= !lso, at one point he refused to take narcotic orders from a technician working for a physician, citing that this was against the Curse ?ractice !ct. !dams was threatened with the loss of his %ob and, in spite of previous performance reviews that were e#cellent, he was eventually fired. ;e sued and won his case (his attorney was an BC). The hospital appealed and lost again. Five units of the hospital have since closed =for financial reasons.E Was the whistleblowing carried by !dams a betrayal or p blic d ty# "nalysis: The type of the whistleblowing is external whistleblowing as the recipient of his disclosure Fabout the unsafe practices in Cew $ngland hospital units6, is the law6 enforcements authority. ince he didnt refuse to divulge his name when making accusations, it can also be categori7ed as ac"nowledged whistleblowing. !dams, as an agent of whistleblowing thought that he should blow the whistle because he saw that there are needs for his whistleblowing, and he is in pro#imity with clear position as a BC to report on the problem. The capability of !dams made that there was a chance of

success if he blow the whistle, and he thought that there was no one else more capable to do so (last resort). We believe that whistleblowing is a moral action of last resort and that, under certain circumstances. it is not only appropriate, but necessary. We would add that a genuine case of whistleblowing re"uires the whistleblower to have utili7ed, unsuccessfully, all appropriate channels within the organi7ation to right a wrong. >n our case, !dams personal and professional reputation was above reproach, and he blew the whistle out of a concern for patient safety and staffing inade"uacies. ;e was aware of the conse"uences of his actions and willing to assume responsibility for them. !s !dams discovered, blowing the whistle can be a life6altering e#perience G either for better or for worse. The whistleblower who stops an unethical practice in his4her organi7ation and gets rewarded for the behavior can feel a sense of deep accomplishment. ;owever, the whistleblower who attempts to stop an unethical practice in her4his organi7ation and gets punished for it may have to live through many harrowing e#periences, including, as &arry !dams e#perienced, the loss of his %ob and difficult court proceedings. Panel Discussion #uestions: '. >s there any professional code for nurses< :ention itD +. >s there any standard of patients rights< @. What is the moral %ustification for your case< 0. ;ow about the criticus that e#pose the government mistakes to the mass media (i.e. :unir)< 9an it be categori7ed as whistleblowing< 1. What if the topic of the whistleblowing is about the behavior of the supervisor, such as when the supervisor have a bad habit like drunk, is it okay to do whistleblowing< A. Whats the meaning of HbeneficiariesE in guidelines for whistleblowing as written above< -. Whats the ethics code of the nurse< >n the viewpoint of he works as an employee and as a public servant< 9onsider, in one viewpoint that he did whistleblowing, in other hand he did his %ob to save human life.

"nswers of the $uestions: '. There are many professional codes for nurses, The earliest code for nurses is generally thought to be that written in ')(@ by 8ystra Iretter, principal of the Farrand Training chool for Curses in ,etroit (Fowler, '((+). !nd the other are Code of N rsing Ethics formulated by the >nternational 9ouncil of Curses, Code for N rses with Interpreti$e %tatements formulated by the !C! in '()1, The Code of Professional Cond ct composed by the Jnited Kingdom 9entral 9ouncil ('((+), and the Code for N rses& Ethical Concepts !pplied to N rsing formulated by the >9C ('(-@). +. %es, based on 'oint Commission, '((-, the standard of patient rights are as follow2 The hospital addresses ethical issues in providing patient care. ?atients are involved in all aspects of their care. >nformed consent is obtained. ?atients are involved in resolving dilemmas about care decisions. The hospital demonstrates respect for the following patient needs2 confidentiality, privacy, security, resolution of complaints, pastoral care, and communication. The hospital protects patients and respects their rights during research, investigations, and clinical trials involving sub%ects. @. The moral %ustification for our case is (Lames L. Fletcher, (nline 'o rnal of Iss es in N rsing. '(())2 The reason for !dams to blow the whistle is because he saw a grave in%ustice or wrongdoing occurring in his organi7ation that has not been resolved despite using all appropriate channels within the organi7ation. !dams is morally %ustifies his course of action by appeals to ethical theories, principles, or other components of ethics, as well as relevant facts. !dams thoroughly investigates the situation and is confident that the facts are as he understands them.

!dams understands that his primary loyalty is to clients unless other compelling moral reasons override this loyalty. !dams ascertains that blowing the whistle most likely will cause better than harm to clients. that is, clients will not be retaliated against because of the whistleblowing.

!dams understands the seriousness of his actions and is ready to assume responsibility for them.

0. >f the case is that the agent is not from the inside of the organi7ation, it cant be categori7ed as whistleblowing because whistleblowing should conducted by the member of the organi7ation. 1. When an employee sees a wrongdoing conducted by his4her supervisor, he can do whistleblowing to stop the potential of damage. Whereas, it categori7ed as internal whistleblowing. A. )eneficiaries in the magnitude of conse"uences as mentioned in the guidelines for whistleblowing means how much the benefit will be attained by the victims and the agent after whistleblowing, will it greater than the potential harm of whistleblowing and the wrongdoing itself or vice versa< -. The answer of this "uestion is similar with "uestion ', with addition that in all viewpoint whistleblowing is okay as long as conduted correctly and for the morals sake. &eference: 9harles &. Fledderman2 +**0, Engineering Ethics, %econd Edition. (?earson $ducation) Lames L. Fletcher and friends2 '((), Whistleblowing !s a *ail re of (rgani+ational Ethics, Mnline Lournal of >ssues in Cursing. (http244www.nursingworld.org) Lames $. Fisher and friends2 '(((, Whistleblowing on the Web. (http244www.bc.edu) &owie, C.2 '()+, ) siness Ethics. (?rentice6;all, $nglewood 9liffs, CL) 8i7abeth $ngland2 Whistleblowing, Chapter ,, ) siness Ethics -ol me.

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