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Rethinking Rural Health Ethics pp 119–138Cite as

Taking It to the Next (Meso) Level: Organisational Ethics

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Part of the book series: International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine ((LIME,volume 72))

Abstract

In this chapter, we demonstrate both the relevance of organisational ethics for rural health facilities and the overall contribution to rural health ethics that this approach provides. We do this, first, by describing organisational ethics and engaging in an extended discussion of the ways in which this meso level of analysis does and does not arise in the rural health ethics literature. In this chapter we also argue that health facilities are important and less visible ethical actors in the rural health sector. We then use the example of recruiting and retaining health providers to rural health facilities to demonstrate the value of utilising an organisational ethics approach. We conclude this chapter by arguing that rural health ethics will benefit from further meso level analysis where the respective values, interests and obligations at play within rural health facilities and the impacts on relationships within these facilities and between these facilities, patients and communities are examined.

Trust is the lubrication that makes it possible for organizations to work (Warren Bennis).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioethics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Christy Simpson & Fiona McDonald

  2. Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Christy Simpson & Fiona McDonald

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  1. Christy Simpson
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  2. Fiona McDonald
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Simpson, C., McDonald, F. (2017). Taking It to the Next (Meso) Level: Organisational Ethics. In: Rethinking Rural Health Ethics. International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine, vol 72. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60811-2_8

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