HEALTH CARE STUDENTS' KNOWLEDGE OF THE ETHICAL DIMENSIONS OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Keywords:
healthcare students, professional obligation, ethical code,, ethical guidance for good medical practiceAbstract
Health care specialists practice their profession in accordance with the rules of good medical and clinical
practice. Young specialist should be aware of certain ethical rules and apply the Code of professional ethics for
nurses, midwives and associated medical specialists in Bulgaria. Ethical codes are rational control mechanism for
different professional groups. They reduce the chance of taking moral risk and therefore have a preventive role. The
purpose of codes is to clearly delineate responsibilities, not to dictate specific actions. Therefore, they correlate with
responsibilities.The ethical guidance of good medical practice helps medical staff to improve professionalism; to
ensure the quality of medical services and to reduce the risk for patients.
The aim of our survey is to study out the knowledge of healthcare students in Medical University-Sofia about ethical
dimensions of professional responsibilities.
Methodology: Sociological (documentary method and direct individual questionnaire) and statistical methods were
used for the purpose of the research. The study was conducted through an online survey among students from the
Faculty of Public Health "Prof. Dr. Tsekomir Vodenicharov, DSc", Medical College "Yordanka Filaretova" and
University Branch "Prof. Dr. Ivan Mitev" – Vratsa.
Results: In our survey took part 310 students from various medical specialties. Over half of the participants (51%)
are studying to become nurses. 69.5% of the students are familiar with the professional code of ethics and even
greater proportion are familiar with the rules of good practice in healthcare (89%). 94.8% report that they have the
same attitude to patients with different social and economic status and 98.1% answer positively to the question “My
professional activity is based on competence, the quality of medical care and patient care”. 29.3% have been in
conflict situation with patient and 33.8% had conflict with a colleague. Considering that respondents are students,
we assume this percentage as high. Lack of good communication and understanding of rights and responsibilities
can be a prerequisite for broken trust.
In conclusion, our study gives grounds to claim that future healthcare professionals are aware of their professional
responsibilities, incl. their ethical aspects. Increasing knowledge and experience in dealing with conflict situations
would contribute to better relationships with patients and colleagues.
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