The first nationwide study on facing and solving ethical dilemmas among healthcare professionals in Slovenia

Healthcare professionals (HCPs), patients and families are often faced with ethical dilemmas. The role of healthcare ethics committees (HECs) is to offer support in these situations. The primary objective was to study how often HCPs encounter ethical dilemmas. The secondary objective was to identify...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2020-07, Vol.15 (7), p.e0235509
Main Authors: Grosek, Stefan, Kucan, Rok, Groselj, Jon, Orazem, Miha, Groselj, Urh, Erculj, Vanja, Lajovic, Jaro, Borovecki, Ana, Ivanc, Blaz
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Data collection
Education
Employees
Ethical aspects
Ethics
Health care
Health services
Hospitals
Human resources
Institutions
Lung diseases
Medical diagnosis
Medical personnel
Medicine
Medicine and Health Sciences
Nurses
Patients
People and Places
Physicians
Professional ethics
Professionals
Psychologists
Research and Analysis Methods
Reviewing
Studies
Surveys
Values
Working conditions
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Summary:Healthcare professionals (HCPs), patients and families are often faced with ethical dilemmas. The role of healthcare ethics committees (HECs) is to offer support in these situations. The primary objective was to study how often HCPs encounter ethical dilemmas. The secondary objective was to identify the main types of ethical dilemmas encountered and how HCPs solve them. We conducted a cross-sectional, survey-based study among HCPs in 14 Slovenian hospitals. A questionnaire was designed and validated by HCPs who were selected by proportional stratified sampling. Data collection took place between April 2015 and April 2016. The final sample size was n = 485 (385 or 79.4%, female). The response rates for HCPs working in secondary and tertiary level institutions were 45% and 51%, respectively. Three hundred and forty (70.4%) of 485 HCPs (very) frequently encountered ethical dilemmas. Frequent ethical dilemmas were waiting periods for diagnostics or treatment, suboptimal working conditions due to poor interpersonal relations on the ward, preserving patients' dignity, and relations between HCPs and patients. Physicians and nurses working in secondary level institutions, compared to their colleagues working in tertiary level institutions, more frequently encountered ethical dilemmas with respect to preserving patients' dignity, protecting patients' information, and relations between HCPs and patients. In terms of solutions, all HCPs most frequently discussed ethical dilemmas with co-workers (colleagues), and with the head of the department. According to HCPs, the most important role of HECs is staff education, followed by improving communication, and reviewing difficult ethical cases. Waiting periods for diagnostics and treatment and suboptimal working conditions due to poor interpersonal relations are considered to be among the most important ethical issues by HCPs in Slovenian hospitals. The most important role of HECs is staff education, improving communication, and reviewing difficult ethical cases.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0235509