Knowledge, attitudes and practice of healthcare ethics and law among doctors and nurses in Barbados

Abstract

BackgroundThe aim of the study is to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices among healthcare professionals in Barbados in relation to healthcare ethics and law in an attempt to assist in guiding their professional conduct and aid in curriculum development.MethodsA self-administered structured questionnaire about knowledge of healthcare ethics, law and the role of an Ethics Committee in the healthcare system was devised, tested and distributed to all levels of staff at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados (a tertiary care teaching hospital) during April and May 2003.ResultsThe paper analyses 159 responses from doctors and nurses comprising junior doctors, consultants, staff nurses and sisters-in-charge. The frequency with which the respondents encountered ethical or legal problems varied widely from 'daily' to 'yearly'. 52% of senior medical staff and 20% of senior nursing staff knew little of the law pertinent to their work. 11% of the doctors did not know the contents of the Hippocratic Oath whilst a quarter of nurses did not know the Nurses Code. Nuremberg Code and Helsinki Code were known only to a few individuals. 29% of doctors and 37% of nurses had no knowledge of an existing hospital ethics committee. Physicians had a stronger opinion than nurses regarding practice of ethics such as adherence to patients' wishes, confidentiality, paternalism, consent for procedures and treating violent/non-compliant patients (p = 0.01)ConclusionThe study highlights the need to identify professionals in the workforce who appear to be indifferent to ethical and legal issues, to devise means to sensitize them to these issues and appropriately training them.

Level of Knowledge and Practice of Patient Care Ethics among Nurses in Pokhara

“…The present study also concludes that majority (90.6%) of the nurses perceived that knowledge of ethics to nurses is very important. This finding is similar to the findings of other studies (Iglesias & Vallejo, 2014;Hariharan et al, 2006). This study also finds that the major source of knowledge about ethics is reported as nursing curriculum 79.2 percent which is similar with the finding of Mohajjel-Aghdam et al (2013).…”

Measuring changes in attitude, practice and knowledge of undergraduate nursing students after receiving an educational intervention in ethical comportment in critical care nursing

“…The findings of this study indicated gaps in the knowledge about the practical aspects of health care ethics among nurses and physicians, which they encounter in day-to-day practice in their workplace and recommended that practical education in ethics, could assist in bridging the gap in ethical approaches among different levels of healthcare staff. Similarly, in a study of Hariharan et al, [15] the researchers found that physicians had a stronger opinion than nurses regarding the practice of ethical comportment such as adherence to patients' wishes, consent for procedures, confidentiality and treating non-compliant patients and the study recommended that practical education in ethical comportment, particularly in a multidisciplinary settings, could assist in bridging the gap in ethical approaches between physicians and nurses. [15] In the current study, students were trained to view patients' problems from all aspects as physical needs, psychological needs, etc.…”

“…Similarly, in a study of Hariharan et al, [15] the researchers found that physicians had a stronger opinion than nurses regarding the practice of ethical comportment such as adherence to patients' wishes, consent for procedures, confidentiality and treating non-compliant patients and the study recommended that practical education in ethical comportment, particularly in a multidisciplinary settings, could assist in bridging the gap in ethical approaches between physicians and nurses. [15] In the current study, students were trained to view patients' problems from all aspects as physical needs, psychological needs, etc. In addition, they were trained to analyze patients' problems from the ethic of caring.…”

“…[11][12][13][14][15] A study was conducted by Osingada et al [11] to evaluate nurses' ethics knowledge and practice and to identify nurses' perceptions/attitudes towards continuing nurses' ethics education (CNEE). The questions in Osingada study assessed participants' knowledge of basic concepts in nursing ethics, nurses' ethical comportment and their application in nursing care.…”

“…The researchers developed this tool after reviewing the related literatures. [1][2][3][4][5][6][11][12][13][14][15] It is used to assess students' attitude, knowledge and practice regarding ethical comportment. It includes three parts:…”