Inquiry Title Brainstorm

I am currently trying to decide upon the title for my Inquiry. I feel it is quite difficult to create a short title that contains the correct amount of information on my chosen topic.

I have been brainstorming various ideas in the process of my final title decision.

• Dancers Nutritional Needs and Resulting Benefits
• Dancers Nutritional Education and Injury Prevention
• Dancers Nutritional Education and Resulting Injury Prevention Effectiveness
• The Role of Nutrition for Dancers and Injury Prevention Effectiveness

Any critic of the above ideas would be helpful.

5c) Ethical approach to Professional Inquiry Research

When beginning to think about the ethical challenges I may face when researching into my professional inquiry, I found it very difficult to differentiate between what would be considered the correct ethical conduct of research to others and what I believe to be ethically correct within my own actions. Also not knowing whether I should be trying to separate the two at all. What I do understand, however, is that creating an ethical foundation for my research is greatly important for the success of the Inquiry for myself and others involved.

Upon working through Reader 5, my knowledge of the differences of opinion throughout society of what is ethically correct, particularly when making possible life changing decisions, grew through the use various examples of ethical decisions made in the past and the repercussions by the way of public responses. What interested me most was the difference in opinion about what is ethically or morally correct between the years 1779 with Immanuel Kant's opinion and that of JS Mill in 1861. These two approaches to ethics are described as "Deontology" and "Consequentialism".

Deontology (Kant)

The belief that morals and  ethics are set in stone in terms of what is correct. This means that no matter the potential consequence, there is an absolute correct answer of what is right or good and this doesn't change no matter the situation.

Consequentialism (Mill)

A Complete Opposite belief to deontology. Ethical considerations have to be made and adjusted depending on what the consequences may be. If the end result of what would originally be called unethical actions is in fact to a greater benefit of society then it would actually be the correct moral decision.

What interested me most about these comparisons is the fact I could relate so easily to the difficulty of choosing between them. It is extremely difficult to know, in many cases, whether your ethical decision is correct because of the consequence and still consider yourself to have a strong ethical structure or it is impossible to bend your morals for different situations. This is also an argument that has followed society throughout history and will continue to with every ethical argument that comes our way.

Within the reader, I was very glad to see that there was a list of expected responsibilities I must uphold when conducted my research so as not to stray from the correct ethical practice. I was also recommended that I update and renew the list into a personal checklist for my research. Upon thinking about how I am going to approach my Inquiry research I designed the checklist using my own ideas as well those provided in the reader:

• The research proposal must comply with ethical standards and be approved by the Research Ethics Committee.
• To conduct research to the agreed protocol and codes of practice.
• The research data collected must be true to results.
• Those involved in the study must be fully aware of their input and be respected throughout.
• Attention to the confidentially of the results and those involved must be paid.
• The integrity and professional security of those I will be working with must be considered throughout.
• To remain in contact with those that have been involved so as to have clear communication about my intentions with the results for their consent.
• The information given by my the nutritional experts in various interviews must be used to their consent.
• All personal findings from the dancers must be used to their consent.
• During my nutritional experiments, the health of those partaking is of the highest importance.
• To keep my mentor up to date with my findings and research ideas so as to remain compliant with the ethical protocol.
• To be ethically critical about what information is used in terms of their reliability and accuracy.
• To reference the research of others appropriately to avoid plagiarism.

Throughout the work of this course so far, we have been reminded of the importance of ethics in terms of producing work. In Module 1 we were asked to think about the integrity of what we post on to open networks such as social websites and how we approach maintaining the safety and security of our own posts as well as those potentially mentioned within. Plagiarism was also mentioned as it is extremely important that any finding or research that will be used for the benefit of my professional inquiry, that is not my own, is referenced appropriately. Failure to do so can lead to massive conflict which is shown within Case 4 of the reader.

The issue of how we present ourselves throughout our research came up in Reader 5, and was a citerea within my inquiry I had not yet considered. Conducting oneself with professionalism throughout the stages of our work is important not only for the amount of respect will we be given when approaching our research but also for the maybe vital relationships that we will be created throughout. During my research, I am planning to speak to professional nutritionists, dancers, teachers and trainers in order to reach my goal and if I do not approach this in the correct manner I may not be given the help I need. Also how I then use my findings will be critical in terms of the ethically correct manner. Speaking and referring to others in the most polite and politically correct way throughout my research is vital for accurate result of my inquiry. Using my own bias or informal opinions rather than pure fact and findings would make my report invalid.

I do believe that I have began to understand what ethical considerations and measures I need to take when embarking upon my professional inquiry and I have no doubt that as I work through it, further knowledge on that subject will come with any issues that may arise within the research. Although now having this foundation should make it easier to know the ethically appropriate way of dealing with it.

5c) Case Study 1: Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry

Ethics, whether personal, professional, or within society, is and will forever be argued within every issue that we come across. The media highlights and expresses their opinions on most scandals that surface and from this we are expected to use our personal ethics to make our own conclusions on the subject. Of course it is important to remember that those working within the media will have their own opinions and marketing interests within their publishings. This being another ethical factor that has to be taken when deciding what goes wrong within societies ethical standards.

Reader 5 introduces us to examples of this. Case Study 1 discusses a scandal within a hospital where an argued unnecessary amount of patients died due to severe malpractice. The amount of ethical issues within this case is vast as not only the morals of the hospital staff needed to be addressed but also the higher management within the organisation who appeared to have overlooked the mistreatment of the patients.

After reading the case study I wanted to find more about the case and came accross the official website of the inquiry:

http://www.midstaffspublicinquiry.com/

Within this website you are able to research the full case including the evidence given, the inquiries costs, the series of reports that were made throughout the case and the final report which was published in 2013. From reading through some of the final report I was able to get more insight into what had been brought up in the case and the repercussions. I made note of key facts of the case so it was easier to analyse. From what I read in Robert Francis' report the reasons to blame for the misconduct were the following:

• Trust board didn't listen to patients or staffs needs or concerns.
• Managerial or Leadership Issues were not addressed.
• Misplaced focus of reaching national and financial targets were in the place of correct treatment of patients.
• Agencies, Commissioners and Regulators did not detect or turned a blind eye to the arising issues within the organisation.
• The NHS checking systems to avoid such incidents within the organisation were not followed.

Below I also took the List of warning signs and the personal stories from patients families from the final report to concentrate on the key facts of the case.

Warning Signs

• A culture focused on doing the system’s business – not that of the patients;
• An institutional culture which ascribed more weight to positive information about the service than to information capable of implying cause for concern;
• Standards and methods of measuring compliance which did not focus on the effect ofa service on patients;
• Too great a degree of tolerance of poor standards and of risk to patients;
•  A failure of communication between the many agencies to share their knowledge of concerns;
•  Assumptions that monitoring, performance management or intervention was the responsibility of someone else;
• A failure to tackle challenges to the building up of a positive culture, in nursing in particular but also within the medical profession;
• A failure to appreciate until recently the risk of disruptive loss of corporate memory and focus resulting from repeated, multi-level reorganisation

Patient and Families Stories

•  Patients were left in excrement in soiled bed clothes for lengthy periods;
•  Assistance was not provided with feeding for patients who could not eat without help;
•  Water was left out of reach;
•  In spite of persistent requests for help, patients were not assisted in their toileting;
•  Wards and toilet facilities were left in a filthy condition;
•  Privacy and dignity, even in death, were denied;
•  Triage in A&E was undertaken by untrained staff;
•  Staff treated patients and those close to them with what appeared to be callous indifference.

The above examples of how the patients were mistreated already raises a huge amount of ethical arguments. When speaking to peers about this case, the opinion that each of our personal ethics or morals should not allow the sort of abuse these patients had been exposed to, without even needing any organisational ethical structure or guidance (which I discuss in a previous blog). In further discussion with others about the case I provided them with a brief amount of information, such as above, and asked them the series of questions recommended within Reader 5 about the case.

1. At Whose door do ethical principles lie?
2. Where do the limits for responsibility lie?
3. Are there any overlaps?
4. Wheres are the tensions?
5. How would these be resolved?

A few of the responses I got about the case during the discussion are as follows:

"Ethical principles lie with everyone. I think that as much as you can blame an organisation for failing, it is the individuals that should have the focus because at the end of the day, that can be the root of the problem which can spread even more widely. As long as individuals take responsibility for their own ethical actions, a lot of bad can be avoided."

"The responsibility lie with all of the above and the government. We should go back to having Matrons on every ward who oversee the running and patient care. These Matrons should then report back and what they say should be heeded to. No one should be left in this state of affairs, no human being. Everyone should have great  care and dignity given to them from entering to leaving the hospital. This is a humans moral and ethical right."

"Ethical principles lie with both higher authoritative figures and organisations but also with each individual. Although much blame can and should be placed on the organisations and agencies themselves it is the individuals within these systems that could have prevented such a tragic turn of events. As individuals we hold our own personal responsibilities and these should be considered and explored during the application process for these kinds of jobs. It is the higher authoritative figures responsibility to make sure the right kinds of people are employed for these roles to avoid mistreatment. Responsibility, therefore, lies with both the broader agencies and companies but also with each individual. There are slight overlaps here of course as although we can blame companies for employing the wrong people, the individuals themselves had a choice to make and they were in control of their own actions. Tensions will clearly lie between the employees and the companys higher figures, as much blame can and will be passed from all areas. These can be resolved by reviewing the overall outlook of the business and making sure the right people are employed for all the right ethical reasons at all levels within the corporate structure.

The final inquiry report published in 2013, condemning the actions of many involved has resulted in many resignations and the potential shutdown of the hospital which is still currently being protested against. This interesting result of people wanting a hospital that has been responsible for the deaths of many without need to be kept open because of importance of having local hospitals raises yet another ethical question. At what point is it acceptable for the standards of a person's medical needs to be lowered because of hospitals capabilities? And are we fully aware of the possible consequences such as this case?

5b (continued) Ethics in the Workplace

When doing research into what ethics in the workplace entails so that I could establish my own within my professional practice, I came across a very interesting article that discusses what the benefits are within any organisation to having strong ethical conduct throughout.

Article Link:
http://www.asaecenter.org/Resources/articledetail.cfm?ItemNumber=13073
"Ethics in the Workplace"
By; Joshua Joseph
Published: October 2000

The article argues the importance of everyone within an organisation having the knowledge and guidance within their profession of its ethical standards in order to create a strong company. When looking at my own professional practice I can agree that finding and ethical common ground within my ballet company is beneficial to the improvement of the company, and although not all colleagues will agree with every issue that arises, having a strong ethical base makes the company work much better as a team. I believe teamwork is an important aspect within every organisation which is expressed throughout this article;"...leaders who want to establish practice of positive workplace ethics within their organizations should develop written ethics standards, provide ethics training, and ensure resources are available for employees in need of ethics advice."

Although this article was written in the year 2000, and therefore slightly outdated, particularly because of the constant evolving of the professional world and all the boundaries within, it seems to be that this article shows the rising attention that is given to ethical conduct in the workplace that is now of the highest importance. I do not believe that every organisation has the correct amount of guidance given as with my own. I explained in a previous blog that many of the ethical standards I have for my profession have come from my own upbringing and experiences which is more related to personal ethics that professional. However, I do not necessarily blame my company for this but more I feel this is how many other within my profession have also come to their ethical conclusions, as it is the nature of the profession to take the relatively small amount of guidance given and developing it throughout our career.

What I particularly like about this article is it defines organisational ethics in a very straight forward way that would apply to every professional practice:

"Organizational ethics: Sets of formal and informal standards of conduct that people use to guide their behavior at work. These standards are partly based on core values such as honesty, respect, and trust, but they also can be directly from the actions of others. For example, what people see their organizational leaders, managers, and coworkers do on the job can influence their own views of what is acceptable or unacceptable behavior.

Throughout my research of ethics during this module, I have found the above definition to be the most appropriate when referring to my own professional practice in terms of how I have created my ethics standards so far far and how they will develop in the future.

Task 5a) Ethics in the Workplace

With every profession, especially now when being correct and respectful in the workplace is  of high importance, certain ethics are called for. As a professional ballet dancer, I have been taught throughout my training and professional life about what are the ethical standards expected when working within a professional ballet company. Also developing my moral understanding of my profession throughout my career so far.I have thought about what these ethics are .


Respectful

It is important when in a company to remain respectful to your colleagues as well as following the instruction given by my director and ballet mistress. During the rehearsal period,our ballet mistress is responsible for organising the rehearsals schedule. It is my responsibility to be on time and prepared for what I am needed for. It is also important to be respectful of my colleagues needs within the studio time and space as we have the same goal to produce the best production  possible for when tour begins.

In the past I have worked with choreographers who will have certain ideas or visuals that have to be considered in my movement of their pieces.

When the company is on tour, we work with a range of staff from the varied theaters, and it is important that a mutual respect is found with them , as well as with colleagues, in order for the performance to run smoothly. Sometimes it is difficult to agree with technicians, who have their own goals and priorities for the performance, of what is important to the dancers and so respectful discussion and compromise is constantly being made.

During a performance, it is very important to be aware that a paying audience is in the auditorium, remaining quiet and professional at all time throughout a performance can make a difference to an audience members experience and impression of the production or company and so must be taken seriously.

On rare occasions, the company I work with also work with small children for the performance. The ethics of working of children therefore changes your attitude to how you may speak or present yourself even in an informal situation so not to offend or make them feel uncomfortable.

Working together with other company members in order to create a productive environment can make a difference to a tours atmosphere and therefore improvement. Is it a company members responsibility, to help other members where possible. this can be with costume, emotional support or even just medical supplies for a performance, however I am of the opinion that this ethical approach is of high importance.

Proactive

It is, in my opinion, expected of all dancers to be proactive about their profession. Due to limited time and space in order to create and improve and choreography, it is within my ethics that I must continue to work on my set pieces when I am away from the studio or theatre. This has the same importance when I am off season as I must keep shape, stamina and strength ready for the following season (this is an example of ethics that wouldn't be necessary in many other professions).

In order to improve within my career, being proactive in how I approach my work can make all the difference for how reliable or promising a dancer you are, and therefore your hiring qualities. My ethical opinion is that as a dancer, a lot more is required of us than we are contracted if we wish to improve. This can be simple things like taking extra care if your costume or shoes and taking the time to educate yourself with the background of my company or production.

This is quite probably a small amount of ethics within my profession that I find most important. I will be speaking to my colleagues and ballet mistress about their opinions of ethics. I will interested to learn about everyones difference in opinion.

5b) Ethics of Professional Practice

When looking further into the ethics of my professional practice, it became clear that within my profession ones ethics are determined by the dancers own opinion. This was confirmed when I asked my colleagues in my ballet company what they felt the ethics are. All answered with the same thoughts that I expressed in my previous blog and agreed that this had come about through their own opinions and what they have learnt throughout their career rather than with legislation as some professions would have.

I also wrote in a previous blog about what is expected of me within my profession, consulting my contract for reference of how i know what is expected of me. This is the only written  form of information many dancers given and so in terms of what is ethically correct, personal input is extremely important. whilst during my time in training, however, a small booklet called "The Dancers Dozen" was given to all students at the young age of eleven, which was the beginning of the ethical shaping that I brought forward into my career.

Upon speaking to the ballet mistress of the company I currently work with, the discussion turned into what are the ethical values of the company as a whole, rather just with each individual dancer. this is of course an important aspect for the companys ability and will  greatly affect the ballet mistress' own professional goals in incorrectly conducted. With further discussion an ethos for the company was created.

"To give every member of (company name) a secure and complete understanding of their professional roles. Thus allowing all performances to be the highest standard possible."

Within Module 1 we were encouraged to think about the ethics of our profession in terms of when using social media. I have always been of the opinion that whilst social media can be helpful within a profession for such things as networking, it is not wise to include personal information on open databases i.e your home address on a blog such as this one. I have therefore also left out the name of my current ballet company and ballet mistress in the interest of integrity. This is another example of what is correct ethical conduct in my opinion.

I would be interested to know if readers agree with this choice? And therefore in fact within my professional practice where the line should be drawn on these matters?