A typical caregiver example would be of an occupant in a home providing care for someone else in the home in some stage of physical handicap or ill health. I have never been a caregiver in such a situation. Yet certainly I am acquainted with the sort of issues this relationship can raise. For example, there is a sense in which one is a caregiver at one's place of employment--the persons to whom one must attend: customers, bosses, colleagues, coworkers on a wider scale, various departments, and the general public. Coincident with this come moral requirements and ethical considerations Whenever submerged within any organization, the danger of co-option by less than stellar motives becomes significant--for example when we are a party to malicious gossip regarding outsiders under the aegis of maintaining team cohesion. Intellectual integrity is similarly challenged when we are tempted "to go along to get along" when in fact we have serious doubts about the wisdom of our current trajectory. The key challenge to conscientious souls is reining in the urge to be a pleaser in limitless proportions--even to the extent of secretly harboring resentments and feelings that one is abused and exploited--being entrapped to so great an extent that prevarication becomes the dominant modality of one's existence. There is a sense in which one must--even in order to be useful to others--maintain unflagging personal integrity imbued with relentless honesty. We must firmly come to believe that avoiding the truth will ultimately prove a disservice to those in our care.
Print Page
