Final answer:
True, written codes of ethics for healthcare practitioners serve as moral guidelines emphasizing professional behavior, moral obligations, and the promotion of fundamental values such as compassion and empathy. They relate to principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice and incorporate care ethics, which focus on the moral significance of caring relationships.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that written codes of ethics for healthcare practitioners primarily serve as moral guidelines is true. These codes not only set forth expectations for professional behavior but also underline the importance of moral obligations and fundamental values such as compassion, empathy, and integrity. In the field of medicine and other sciences, these ethical guidelines ensure that professionals act in accordance with principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice when dealing with patients, research subjects, and even when conducting studies that could impact human life or the environment. For instance, the Software Engineering Code of Ethics stipulates that engineers must ensure the safety and efficacy of software, reflecting the larger moral questions and political debate tied to these guidelines.
Care ethics further expand on this by emphasizing the moral significance of caring relationships, suggesting that values take precedence over principles when making decisions in complex, interpersonal situations. It highlights the need for human character to possess traits like sympathy and responsibility, which should inform decision-making processes in healthcare and research, thus nurturing the development of these virtues within society. Utilizing care ethics, practitioners are expected to make educated and informed decisions that consider everyone's concerns, reinforcing the altruistic aspect of healthcare professions.