Ethical competence in a profession: healthcare professionals’ views

Jessica Hemberg*, Håkan Hemberg

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)
189 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Aim

Ethical competence is a crucial component for enabling good quality care but there is insufficient qualitative research on healthcare professionals' views on ethical competence. The aim of this study was to investigate healthcare professionals' views on ethical competence in a student healthcare context.

Design

A qualitative design and a hermeneutical approach were used.

Methods

The material consists of texts from interviews with healthcare professionals (N = 10) in a student healthcare context. The method was inspired by content analysis.

Results

One main theme and four subthemes emerged. The main theme was as follows: safeguarding the vulnerability of the other. The subthemes were as follows: using sensitivity to establish a trustful relationship, acting in an objective and flexible manner, using a reflective process in decision‐making, and maintaining confidentiality and honesty. Future research should focus on investigating ethical competence from various perspectives in student health care, for example the student perspective or observational studies.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1249–1259
JournalNursing Open
Volume7
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2020
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

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