Ethical standards in healthcare are best understood as:

Ethical standards in healthcare encompass the principles and values that guide the behavior and decision-making of healthcare professionals. These standards focus on what is considered to be right and wrong conduct, emphasizing the importance of integrity, respect, compassion, and responsibility in patient care. Ethical standards are rooted in moral philosophy and are designed to protect patients' rights and promote high-quality care through principles such as autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice.

While laws at various levels—federal and state—provide a legal framework for healthcare practices, they do not fully capture the broader ethical considerations that guide individual conduct. Similarly, while there are specific rules outlining permissible actions in healthcare settings, ethical standards often delve deeper into the implications and responsibilities of those actions, guiding practitioners in complex situations where legal requirements may not fully address moral dilemmas.