Ethical uncertainty and COVID-19: exploring the lived experiences of senior physicians at a major medical centre

Abstract

Given the wide-reaching and detrimental impact of COVID-19, its strain on healthcare resources, and the urgent need for—sometimes forced—public health interventions, thorough examination of the ethical issues brought to light by the pandemic is especially warranted. This paper aims to identify some of the complex moral dilemmas faced by senior physicians at a major medical centre in Saudi Arabia, in an effort to gain a better understanding of how they navigated ethical uncertainty during a time of crisis. This qualitative study uses a semistructured interview approach and reports the findings of 16 interviews. The study finds that participants were motivated by a profession-based moral obligation to provide care during the toughest and most uncertain times of the pandemic. Although participants described significant moral dilemmas during their practice, very few identified challenges as ethical in nature, and in turn, none sought formal ethics support. Rather, participants took on the burden of resolving ethical challenges themselves—whenever possible—rationalising oft fraught decisions by likening their experiences to wartime action or by minimising attention to the moral. In capturing these accounts, this paper ultimately contemplates what moral lessons can, and must be, learnt from this experience.

Ethical care in patients with Covid-19: A grounded theory

“…The values, experiences, and desires that exist in each person determine the degree of faith a person has, and faith is the main driver of the manifestation of the sense of obligation and commitment. In line with these results, Muaygil in 2023 reported a sense of obligation and inner commitment existed in the treatment staff for performing care for patients with Covid-19, a commitment that made the treatment staff, in the most difficult and uncertain conditions, recognize their duty and seek to do it [ 20 ]. Although both the present study and Muaygil’s research revealed the existence of an inner requirement and commitment, the strength and distinction of the present study lies in the presence of the divine aspect of this inner commitment, which causes all eyes to turn to the same source, which is God’s satisfaction.…”

Epidemics and the healthcare professional's duty to care: Students' attitudes about work requirements before and during Covid‐19 (2017–2021)

“…professional commitment to undertake risks for the sake of infected patients can change over time. 15 Empirical studies in recent years have investigated healthcare professionals' attitudes, [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] some of which reveal a particular concern about the need for reciprocity, so that the professional's duty to care is matched by societal and institutional duties to protect healthcare professionals (and their families) by providing reasonably safe working conditions. [17][18][19]21,23 Less is known about the beliefs of medical students, [24][25][26][27][28][29] and it is unclear whether and how the emergence of Covid-19 may have affected their attitudes.…”