| Moral distress among Norwegian doctors. | |
| | |
MedLine Citation:
|
PMID: 18591286 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
|
BACKGROUND: Medicine is full of value conflicts. Limited resources and legal regulations may place doctors in difficult ethical dilemmas and cause moral distress. Research on moral distress has so far been mainly studied in nurses. OBJECTIVE: To describe whether Norwegian doctors experience stress related to ethical dilemmas and lack of resources, and to explore whether the doctors feel that they have good strategies for the resolution of ethical dilemmas. DESIGN: Postal survey of a representative sample of 1497 Norwegian doctors in 2004, presenting statements about different ethical dilemmas, values and goals at their workplace. RESULTS: The response rate was 67%. 57% admitted that it is difficult to criticize a colleague for professional misconduct and 51% for ethical misconduct. 51% described sometimes having to act against own conscience as distressing. 66% of the doctors experienced distress related to long waiting lists for treatment and to impaired patient care due to time constraints. 55% reported that time spent on administration and documentation is distressing. Female doctors experienced more stress that their male colleagues. 44% reported that their workplace lacked strategies for dealing with ethical dilemmas. CONCLUSION: Lack of resources creates moral dilemmas for physicians. Moral distress varies with specialty and gender. Lack of strategies to solve ethical dilemmas and low tolerance for conflict and critique from colleagues may obstruct important and necessary ethical dialogues and lead to suboptimal solutions of difficult ethical problems. |
| | |
Authors:
|
R Førde; O G Aasland |
Related Documents
:
|
16640946 - Professionalism and the ethics of the sideline physician. 10296606 - The dilemmas of leadership. 11314166 - What makes a problem an ethical problem? an empirical perspective on the nature of ethi... 2098086 - Objectifying treatment of malocclusion. 10853056 - History of the american society for stereotactic and functional neurosurgery. 71296 - Legal and ethical aspects of proprietary rights to federally funded media programs. |
Publication Detail:
|
Type: Journal Article |
Journal Detail:
|
Title: Journal of medical ethics Volume: 34 ISSN: 1473-4257 ISO Abbreviation: J Med Ethics Publication Date: 2008 Jul |
Date Detail:
|
Created Date: 2008-07-01 Completed Date: 2008-10-30 Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
|
Nlm Unique ID: 7513619 Medline TA: J Med Ethics Country: England |
Other Details:
|
Languages: eng Pagination: 521-5 Citation Subset: E; IM |
Affiliation:
|
Section for Medical Ethics, University of Oslo, PO Box 1130 Blindern, NO0318 Oslo, Norway. reidun.forde@medisin.uio.no |
Export Citation:
|
APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
|
Adult Attitude of Health Personnel Culture Ethics, Medical* Female Humans Interprofessional Relations / ethics Male Middle Aged Morals Norway Physicians / ethics, psychology* Professional Autonomy* Questionnaires |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
Previous Document: Pharmacist conscience clauses and access to oral contraceptives.
Next Document: The ethics of non-heart-beating donation: how new technology can change the ethical landscape.