Common medical ethical issues faced by healthcare professionals in KSA

Abstract

ObjectiveThere are growing concerns about ethical issues in the healthcare system. This study was conducted to determine the nature of common ethical issues faced by healthcare providers in a tertiary-care hospital in KSA.MethodThis cross-sectional study comprised a self-administered questionnaire given to the physicians working at King Abdulaziz Medical City Hospital-Riyadh, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs (KAMC-RD, MNGHA). We used a convenience sampling technique during symposia and conferences.ResultsWe distributed 240 questionnaires amongst the physicians and recorded a response rate of 80%; 68% (136) of the respondents were men, while 82.5% were Saudis. The mean age of the group was 34.08 ± 10.43 years. Only 69% (138) of the physicians had ever received any formal teaching in bioethics. Most physicians (77.5%) demanded clear guidelines to help them to take appropriate ethical decisions on therapeutic futility, whereas 54% felt that they sometimes overtreat their patients.ConclusionThis study reported a lack of knowledge in certain healthcare-related ethical issues in a significant proportion of the physicians. There is a need for a standard educational agenda for medical ethics for healthcare providers, not only during medical school but also after graduation and during clinical rounds.

Current state of ethical challenges reported in Saudi Arabia: a systematic review & bibliometric analysis from 2010 to 2021

“…The conclusions and recommendations of all included articles were consistent, stating that teaching bioethics is a complex and long-term process that helps graduate and undergraduate students embrace the roots of their culture, knowledge, and principles [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. While there is no single best model for teaching medical ethics, teaching bioethics is essential to educating medical students by developing a comprehensive bioethics curriculum.…”

“…However, it would be fair to note that there is still limited guidance on teaching and learning bioethics, which will inevitably have a tangible impact on society in the future [1,2]. Despite the researchers' growing interest in medical ethics, this systematic review has shown that from 2010 to 2021, only ten articles were published studying the 'Medical Ethics Curriculum' in KSA [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. Of these ten articles, the research by El-Sobkey et al ( 2014) is in the list of the most cited articles with 21 citations.…”

“…Of these ten articles, the research by El-Sobkey et al ( 2014) is in the list of the most cited articles with 21 citations. Overall synthesis of this domain showed that regardless of the region, target population, most participants in all included studies agreed on the importance of studying the principles of medical ethics as a discipline with its methods, literature, vocabulary, and content [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. Although some participants completed theoretical ethics classes while attending medical school, the theory does not address the practical ethical dilemma faced in daily practice after graduation [25,[27][28][29]31].…”

Patient privacy and autonomy: a comparative analysis of cases of ethical dilemmas in China and the United States

“…Healthcare professionals frequently encounter situations that involve medical ethical principles leading to ethical dilemmas [16,17]. In the past few decades, the use of courts, to resolve intractable ethical dilemmas, has increased across both developed and developing countries [18][19][20][21].…”

Exploring medical ethics’ implementation challenges

“…The first solution to a lack of medical ethics' knowledge and reasoning is to improve scientific ethics teaching to health professionals in the curricula. However, a lack of trained medical ethics specialists,[ 22 ] a lack of enough medical ethics' teaching time in the curricula, and a lack of scientific approaches in teaching ethics to medical students lead to a lack of knowledge and skill required for ethical judgment among medical professionals. [ 23 ]…”