Creating a Code of Conduct for Healthcare: Facility Guide

Whether a healthcare worker is delivering a meal tray or a life-changing diagnosis, they have a duty to maintain a professional presence that reflects the integrity of the organization. A code of conduct for healthcare workers is a document that defines an organization’s expectations for employees. Giving clearly defined parameters to staff helps them make decisions about how to act. It may prompt them to do the right thing in relation to the patient’s well-being and the facility’s goals, rather than personal priorities.

When written well, this policy will do more than deter misaligned or inappropriate behavior. It can also inspire employees to promote person-centered care and embody your company’s mission and values in daily practice.

In this article, we’ll share what’s typically included in a code of conduct. We’ll provide examples of national and international professional standards, such as the healthcare code of ethics for executives, that can help you decide on the core principles you’d like to emphasize for your staff. Use our section-by-section guide to get ideas for your own policy, and be sure to download our printable sample code of conduct that can be tailored to fit your facility’s needs.

What Is a Code of Conduct for Healthcare Professionals?

A code of conduct for healthcare workers covers the expected behaviors for staff in the clinical and administrative settings. For clinicians, a code of conduct guides ethical decisions in complex situations, particularly in patient care. For healthcare administrators and other non-clinical staff, it serves as a reminder to prioritize patient-centered goals over personal gain.

Having a code of conduct allows healthcare organizations to set high standards for their staff in order to uphold patient trust. This helps foster a culture of accountability and integrity in healthcare.

How Are Ethics Addressed in a Code of Conduct?

Having a code of conduct can serve as a support tool for healthcare workers who often face moral and ethical dilemmas in patient care. Healthcare leaders must also consider the conditions in a healthcare environment that may contribute to a provider’s ability to do what’s right for patients. Addressing factors that test an individual’s morals and ethics can help prevent burnout and promote patient safety.

What Are Morals?

Morals are personal beliefs that guide decision-making and often relate to gut instincts. When a healthcare provider repeatedly faces situations out of their control that challenge their ability to “do the right thing,” it can lead to moral distress, moral injury, and burnout.

Example: A hospital CEO denies the nursing staff’s request for facility-wide standardized nurse-to-patient ratios, and the new normal on med-surg becomes 1:8. Toward the end of the shift, a med-surg nurse notices neuro changes in one of their patients and calls a Code Stroke. The medical team discovers the patient had a brain bleed hours earlier, and several signs were missed due to the demands of the nurse’s assignment. The nurse is distressed that they missed the warning signs in this patient harm event.

What Are Ethics?

Ethics are a set of standards, often from an external source, that determine whether a behavior should be considered right or wrong. These may be set by an institution, such as when a hospital develops a code of conduct for healthcare staff. Many healthcare roles also have written codes of ethics for healthcare practitioners with a specific job title, typically developed by professional organizations.

Example: A Spanish-speaking patient is scheduled for surgery and needs to sign a consent form, but the interpreter is temporarily unavailable to translate. The surgeon arrives at the bedside and explains the procedure in English, asking the bedside nurse to witness the consent. The nurse faces an ethical dilemma about how to proceed.

Code of Conduct Examples for Healthcare

As a healthcare facility leader, you likely see the value in creating a code of conduct for your employees in the form of a manual or policy guide. This gives employees a centralized place to read about the organization’s values, behavioral standards, and stances on complex issues arising in the workplace.

Many healthcare workers likely have a set of professional standards that inform their everyday practice in addition to facility-based guides. When creating a facility-specific code of conduct, it may be helpful to have at least a foundational idea of the standards set out in the most common written codes of ethics for healthcare practitioners. Here are a few healthcare code of conduct examples to explore.

What Does a Code of Conduct Include In Healthcare?

A code of conduct for healthcare staff should serve as a statement about the expected behaviors, ethical standards, and principles that guide the behavior of those affiliated with the institution. It should be inclusive of healthcare professionals, non-clinical staff, vendors, and volunteers.

Your facility may choose to require staff to sign an attestation stating they’ve read the code of conduct and are familiar with its contents. By doing so, they agree to abide by the code when representing the healthcare organization, both in the practice setting and in the community. Healthcare staff agree to follow the basic ethical standards and legal requirements necessary to perform their work. The code of conduct should elaborate on these foundational concepts by including the following elements.

Purpose

Dedicate a section to explaining why a code of conduct exists at your healthcare organization. Explain your company’s commitment to delivering care in a way that embodies its mission, vision, and values while conducting work in an ethical manner.

Professional Standards

These describe the professional expectations for competency in delivering care, such as those mandated by state Nurse Practice Acts. They also relate to the behavioral standards expected when representing an organization in the professional setting and in patient care.

Patient Rights: Privacy and Confidentiality

The code of conduct should have a section describing the organization’s commitment to handling protected health information (PHI). It can list policies about privacy and confidentiality, including consequences for mishandling PHI.

Quality of Care

Healthcare workers agree to follow standards of care that promote patient safety by employing the latest evidence-based practice guidelines and policies. Elaborate on the behavioral standards that reflect organizational ethics for quality of care.

Ethical Guidelines

When facing ethical decisions in the workplace, healthcare professionals exercise their best judgment to support patients. Discuss which resources are available to navigate challenges arising in clinical practice, such as a hospital ethics committee. Because decision-making is so critical in healthcare, code of ethics sections may also remind practitioners to abide by relevant professional ethical standards when making clinical judgements.

Third-Party Responsibilities

Contractors and other independent business associates who work with your organization must also abide by your code of conduct. Remember to include a section describing expectations for these individuals to ensure everyone is on the same page.

Financial Integrity

Healthcare institutions must promise to maintain integrity when handling financial matters and billing. Include your organization’s statement about following regulations pertaining to kickbacks or financial incentives for physician referrals.

Disciplinary Guidelines

This describes the consequences of violating the code in the form of disciplinary action or termination, depending on the circumstances. Transparency is essential, so be sure to outline the regulatory body responsible for making the decisions on these discretionary behaviors in your code of conduct.

Professional Environment

The organization states its commitment to providing an environment conducive to professional behavior and teamwork. This may cover a statement about lateral violence, workplace incivility, and bullying.

Get Additional Resources to Help You Lead

Taking advantage of our sample code of conduct for healthcare will give you a head start when you sit down to create your own guidelines. Need more support? Our healthcare resources and facility guides provide the templates, samples, and printable forms you need to fulfill your leadership responsibilities.