5/5 Yasintha M. 3 years ago on Google
The
hospital
has
legal
liability.
Does
it
also
have
moral
responsibility?
Is
it
a
moral
agent,
and
if
so
in
what
sense?
There
are
two
issues
involved,
one
conceptual
and
the
other
normative.
The
conceptual
issue
is
whether
a
hospital
can
be
morally
responsible.
If
seen
not
only
as
a
physical
facility
but
as
a
formal
organization,
it
can
be
said
to
act
rationally,
choose
between
alternatives,
and
affect
human
beings.
It
thus
satisfies
the
criteria
for
moral
responsibility,
even
though
it
is
not
a
person.
Though
moral
responsibility
can
be
attributed
intelligibly
to
a
hospital,
such
responsibility
can
be
assumed
only
by
those
within
it
who
act
for
it.
Such
responsibility
is
agent
responsibility
and
may
be
shared
in
a
number
of
ways.
Hospital
responsibilities
can
be
separated
from
the
professional
moral
responsibility
and
the
personal
moral
responsibility
held
by
doctors,
nurses,
and
others
within
a
hospital.
Assuming
these
three
types
of
responsibility
makes
possible
conflicts
of
responsibility
for
those
who
hold
them.
Normatively,
the
moral
responsibility
of
the
hospital
is
appropriately
limited
by
its
purpose
and
is
primarily
administrative.
It
has
designatable
moral
responsibilities
to
its
patients,
doctors
and
nurses,
and
the
public.
These
can
be
distinguished
from
the
responsibilities
of
doctors
and
nurses
to
the
public.
The
responsibility
of
a
doctor
on
the
hospital
staff
is
different
from
the
responsibility
of
a
doctor
who
simply
practices
in
the
hospital;
that
of
a
staff
nurse
from
that
of
a
private
nurse.
The
difference
is
in
large
part
a
function
of
the
one
sharing
the
responsibility
of
the
hospital
and
the
other
not.
An
analysis
of
a
hospital's
moral
responsibilities
suggests
structures
appropriate
to
a
hospital
that
wishes
to
meet
its
moral
responsibilities.
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