Working at the bedside, ethical and moral actions are expected and required. Treating others with respect, kindness and dignity are foundations of a caregiver. A sense of urgency, a high standard of care and dependability are unsaid morals of those caring for the ill and dying. When I took care of patients that received open heart surgery, ensuring his or her naked body was not completely exposed, was an act of providing dignity for the patient. I did not declare, I am keeping you covered to pay respect to your dignity. This is an example of moral muteness. I practiced moral muteness because it is implied in such a field such as nursing care. Which is why nurses are rated the highest for moral and ethical practices and behaviors. Moral muteness in this specific example was used for efficiency. Saving my words for need topics, such as after home and diabetes education were more valuable, than stated the obvious and implied moral of providing dignity to the weak and ill.
I was on the open heart surgery floor for 7 years. I received multiple awards for excellence and as a person who openly behaves and acts in line with the values of the institution, which include empathy and compassion, integrity and personal accountability, openness and trust. The visions of the institution I work for line closely with mine. Because of the awards and consistency in my work and actions, others knew of my morals without outwardly stating them. Actions speak louder than words, rings true to who I am. Moral Muteness is significantly practiced at the bedside as it is rooted in caring for others out of sincere compassion.
Currently, in my role in the business field, I have practiced behaviors that are on my personal moral spectrum, such as kindness, community and wellness. I have not outwardly stated declared verbally, I provide encouraging and appreciative comments because I think it is moral to do so; the moral is implied. Working in field where interpersonal communication, relationships, and other people-focused behavioral skills are not valued as highly as bedside care, I’ve found myself breaking moral muteness and verbally stating the purpose of my actions and substantiating such behaviors with academic journals and explaining my actions as supported by evidence-based practices.
As a fresh face to the business world, I have been exposed to an environment where moral muteness has proven a challenge. Individuals question kindness as some are conditioned to be defensive, or would prefer to see the underlining driving force. So the moral muteness I exhibited at the bedside has been challenged and thus written and verbal explanation and declaration are required.
There are times I have exhibited moral muteness when my personal morals did not align with others. Some are concerned with how others perceive a group of people, where as I am concerned in the impact of intent of an activity. My end goal is to provide an opportunity for others to gain from, so I believe that choosing what battles to fight, is wise. As I don't want to burn or severely destroy bridges that I have built so painstakingly.
As far as moral muteness, I strive to to behave and act in a just way. I believe there are avenues in which proclaiming injustice or immoral acts sinned against an individual, group or myself, can in fact greatly damage productivity, the work climate and feed negative behaviors such as back talking or gossip. In the moral muteness, I consciously make the choice to not encourage or provoke the wrongdoer, but help equip the other with knowledge, insight and resources. The ones participating in the immoral acts, may be in a position with leadership, or connections to damage others' lives tremendously. I believe careful consideration, research and reflection are needed to calculate if the battle is worth fighting.
An example where I exhibited moral muteness in this aspect, was when a nurse was yelling loudly and disrespectfully to the aide. I did not intervene immediately as I, myself, had to digest what occurred in front of me. After considering what happened, I went to the aide and gave neutral insight, that the behaviors of that nurse was unprofessional and could have been handled in a more appropriate manner. I apologized on behalf of the nurse, and offered compassion to the nurse aide and sharing a similar instance when the recipient of the harsh words was me. Sharing the incidence with a supervisor unofficially of this nurse's unprofessional, and embarrassing behavior, which also occurred in front of patients and families, at the time I felt I went the proper route, as I was not in the nurse's command of chain, nor would this individual would be receptive to constructive feedback, as based on past experiences. I continue to work diligently and consciously with the interactions and ways when I witness injustice or immoral behavior.
