P. Tamilselvi1, G. Ramamurthy2
1Principal, Mailam Nursing College, Mailam, Villupuram, Tamilnadu.
2Nursing Officer, JIPMER, Puducherry.
*Corresponding Author E-mail: selvitamil79@gmail.com
ABSTRACT:
“Whistle blowing” occurs when an employee informs the public about inappropriate activities going on inside the organization. whistle blowing entails information about criminal activity, a contravention of any statute, improper or unauthorized use of bublic and other funds, miscarriage of justice, abuse of power, misadministration, danger to the health or safety of an individual, and any other misbehavior or malpractice.”
KEYWORDS: Whistle, Blowing.
INTRODUCTION:
Whistle-blowing refers to the act of reporting unethical or illegal behavior to an authority figure or an outside organization. Whistle-blowing is a moral endeavor that seeks to put a stop to wrongdoing.
Whistle-blower: ‘A whistle-blower is someone who reports waste, fraud, abuse, corruption or dangers to public health and safety to someone who is in the position to rectify the wrongdoing’ as defined by the National Whistleblower Center.
Types of Whistle-blowing:
· Internal whistle-blowing: Reporting of unethical observation within an organization is known as internal whistle-blowing.
· External whistle-blowing: The event that their concerns are not sufficiently addressed, nurses may decide to engage in external whistle-blowing by reporting it publicly to media, competent authority or law enforcement department.
· There can be four types, namely internal reporting, internal whistle-blowing, external reporting and external whistle-blowing (MacNab et al., 2007).
· Whistle-blowing is classified into four major types.
· Furthermore, it can be classified as external, internal, anonymous, identified, formal and informal (Park et al., 2008).
Health care wrongdoing ranges from improper conduct to unlawful activity. When a patient is subjected to harm or misconduct, nurses are typically obligated to voice their concerns. A whistle-blower may suffer unfavourable effects as a result of coming forward, frequently in the form of bullying or retaliation. Whistle-blowing presents nurses with practical and ethical dilemmas. It is important to consider whistle-blowing as one of a range of progressively confrontational activities that employees might take against wrongdoer corporations. Whistle-blowing ethics must be understood in light of its moral goal, whether that goal is to bring about a desirable outcome (a consequentialist perspective) or to fulfill a responsibility (a deontological view).
Whistle-blowing can be witnessed due to five basic factors that can cause it.
FACTORS CAUSING WHISTLE-BLOWING
a. Problems with working circumstances
b. Problems with nursing practice
c. Problems with professional behaviour
d. Problems with patient care and patient rights
e. Problems with general management of the health care organization
In the context of nursing, whistle-blowing is an act of advocacy. One of the characteristics of a patient advocate is protecting patients. As an advocate, nurses stand up for the rights of their patients, even though this is only one aspect of their job. The nurse protects their patient from unnecessary harm, which has been recognized to be a crucial aspect of their professional responsibility. When a nurse fights for their patient, they may use whistle blowing as a form of defense.
During the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic, nurses experienced exceptional upsurge in unethical practices and misconducts recognized the requirement for external whistle-blowing. They also used whistle- blowing to regain their right to express and strengthen their shared unity. Ultimately, they perceived it as a symbol of ethical virtue in the context of crisis in the health care system (Gagnon et al., 2022).
Whistle-blowing is a complex ethical issue that nurses may face in the workplace. Nurses may encounter situations where they feel it is necessary to blow the whistle, but doing so may have negative consequences for themselves or others.
Ethical dilemmas related to whistle-blowing that nurses may encounter:
· Loyalty: Nurses may feel a sense of loyalty to their colleagues or organization, and may be reluctant to report unethical or illegal behavior for fear of betraying that loyalty.
· Consequences: Nurses may fear negative consequences for themselves or others if they blow the whistle, such as losing their job, damaging their reputation or putting patients at risk.
· Ethics of reporting: Nurses may struggle with deciding when it is ethical to blow the whistle, and whether the harm caused by the unethical behavior outweighs the potential harm caused by blowing the whistle.
· Legal obligations: Nurses may be legally obligated to report certain types of unethical or illegal behavior, such as patient abuse or neglect However, even in these cases, nurses may face ethical dilemmas related to the potential consequences of reporting.
Nurses should also familiarize themselves with their organization's policies and procedures related to whistle-blowing, adhere to ethical principles and should advocate for a culture of transparency and accountability in their workplace.
In order to protect the whistle-blower from ill-treatment, there are policies and regulations developed. For example, whistle-blowing policies framed by International Confederation of Midwives. These policies ensure protection against victimizing a whistle-blower, facilitates anonymous reporting, strict disciplinary action for attempting to or actually hiding evidences of unethical conduct and for victimizing the whistle-blower (ICM, 2021).
Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2011 (renamed as Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2014 by the second schedule of the Repealing and Amending Act, 2015 is an Act of the Parliament of India which provides a mechanism to investigate alleged corruption and misuse of power by public servants and also protect anyone who exposes alleged wrongdoing in government bodies, projects and offices. The wrongdoing might be in the form of fraud, corruption or mismanagement. The Act will also ensure punishment for false or frivolous complaints.
The Act was approved by the Cabinet of India as part of a drive to eliminate corruption in the country's bureaucracy and passed by the Lok Sabha on 27 December 2011.The Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha on 21 February 2014 and received the President's assent on 9 May 2014.
INTENT:
An Act to establish a mechanism to receive complaints relating to disclosure on any allegation of corruption or willful misuse of power or willful misuse of discretion against any public servant and to inquire or cause an inquiry into such disclosure and to provide adequate safeguards against victimization of the person making such complaint and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto.
SALIENT FEATURES:
· The Act seeks to protect whistle blowers, i.e. persons making a public interest disclosure related to an act of corruption, misuse of power, or criminal offense by a public servant.
· Any public servant or any other person including a non-governmental organization may make such a disclosure to the Central or State Vigilance Commission.
· Every complaint has to include the identity of the complainant.
· The Vigilance Commission shall not disclose the identity of the complainant except to the head of the department if deemed necessary. The Act penalizes any person who has disclosed the identity of the complainant.
· The Act prescribes penalties for knowingly making false complaints.
REFERENCES:
1. Amended Act, as hosted in legislative.gov.in
2. Times of India (22 February 2014). After 2 years and no changes, Whistleblowers Bill cleared India News - Times of India. Times of India. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
External links:
Whistle Blower’s Protection Act, 2011 http://egazette.gov.in/WriteReadData/2014/159420.pdf)
http://www.citehr.com/514072-corporate-culture-impunity-public-sector-jpg-download.html
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Received on 06.08.2024 Revised on 14.10.2024 Accepted on 12.11.2024 Published on 16.12.2024 Available online on December 31, 2024 Int. J. Nursing Education and Research. 2024;12(4):277-279. DOI: 10.52711/2454-2660.2024.00059 ©A and V Publications All right reserved
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