Insights of Bioethics among Healthcare Professionals in All Public and PrivateHospitals of District Haripur, Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Awareness of bioethics among healthcare personnel is essential to ensure ethical practice in healthcare. The study aimed to assess the level of bioethics insights and awareness among healthcare professionals and explore its associations with socio-demographic characteristics, training/teaching of ethics, practice of medical ethics and specific ethical issues. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between March and May of 2023 among healthcare professionals (n = 647) including doctors, nurses, LHV, medical technicians/dispensers and other medical personnel from both the public healthcare facilities (BHU, RHC, THQ, and DHQ) and private hospitals located in the Haripur district, Pakistan. The data was collected through a validated questionnaire, whereby a score was given for each response, and a total score was calculated. Results: The overall mean ± SD awareness scores for ethics in healthcare practice and specific issues in medical ethics were 8.0 ± 2.4 and 32.0 ± 5.2, indicating both physicians and non-physicians need to know more about bioethics. With regard to training and teaching in medical ethics, a significant correlation was found between the duration of the ethical training/teaching and job categories/designations (p < 0.001). Ethical views of healthcare professionals differed greatly by job designation regarding the treatment of children without consent (Cramer’s V = 0.4) and revealing the patient’s condition to relatives (Cramer’s V = 0.39). Specific ethical issues such as accepting gifts from patients and pharmaceutical companies, referral fees, advising specific products to patients, disclosure of medical errors, patient’s confidentiality, not informing patients fully about treatment and performing tasks for financial gain showed significant associations with healthcare professional's designation (p < 0.05). Significant differences were observed in ethical awareness scores based on age, ethnicity, place of posting, professional experience, and the organization's ethical guidelines (p< 0.05). Conclusion: This study highlighted a notable gap in the understanding of certain ethical concerns among healthcare professionals, with nurses showing relatively lower awareness of healthcare practice compared to other professionals. Addressing these issues through targeted training and robust ethical guidelines are critical to improving patient’s care and rights in Pakistan's healthcare system.