To help resolve disputes between family, patients, physicians, or other parties. Often, the parties involved are operating strictly on emotion, which makes it difficult to come to a logical and fair decision. Ethics adds another dimension to help make decisions.

To maintain a clear conscience. All doctors want to be sure they have done the right thing. Being an ethical physician is more important than making money or seeing as many patients as possible.

To not make yourself look uninformed. Physicians sometimes stumble onto poor decisions because they did not understand their role, had not bothered to identify an ethical challenge, or hadn't thought the situation through to its logical conclusion.

To maintain the respect of your patients. Ethical missteps can destroy the bond between doctor and patient. Patients often implicitly trust their doctors, but once that trust has been breached, it is difficult to repair.

To maintain respectful relationships with other clinicians. Your colleagues often have very definite opinions about what is ethical, often enshrined in various codes of ethics of the profession or learned from mentors. Those codes and ethics role-modeling are created by people who practice some form of ethical decision-making.

To maintain some efficiency. Although ethical decision-making often requires extra time, it also can save time by anticipating disagreements that can slow down the care process. If you aren't ethical, patients or other caregivers who are upset with your decisions can seriously impede your work.

To reduce burnout. One cause of burnout is incongruence between physicians' personal values and those of their organization. Physicians who can describe their ethical concerns and use negotiating skills may be able to change the organizational policies that produce burnout.