Ethics and Organizational Identity in a Cancer Care Setting

In this chapter, we identify some of the distinct ethical challenges that cancer care institutions face, and suggest that one way cancer care institutions can respond to these challenges is by incorporating ethical thinking into their organizational identity in a manner that explicitly responds to the distinct challenges of cancer care. We propose that an institution’s mission statement, code of ethics, institutional decision-making procedure, and leadership structure all provide opportunities for incorporating ethical thinking into a cancer care institution’s organizational identity. We conclude by identifying several challenges that cancer care institutions may face when attempting to implement their ethical vision so as to motivate individuals to act in accordance with these visions. While these challenges do not tell against the institution’s effort to incorporate ethical thinking into their organizational identity, they do indicate a need for an implementation strategy that directly engages with the way that individuals make ethical decisions.