Publication: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Medical Ethics among Doctors and Nurses in Pokhara Valley, Nepal
Date
2022
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kathmandu University
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Background
Medical ethics is defined as the ethical obligations of medical professionals towards
their patients, colleagues, and society. The inadequacy and non-uniformity of this
topic has been associated with rising cases of professional misconduct and medical
negligence all over the world.
Objective
To assess and compare the status of knowledge, attitude and practice of medical
ethics among medical doctors and nurses in three major hospitals of Pokhara valley.
Method
This was a cross-sectional study conducted from 15th Mar 2018 to 13th Apr 2018;
in which 124 doctors and 103 nurses were asked to fill up medical ethics related
questionnaire. The data was entered in SPSS file and the association of variables was
determined by Chi-square and statistical significance was considered if the p-value
< 0.05.
Result
The study showed that 56.5%, 8.1%, and 13.7% of doctors were aware of the
Hippocratic oath, Nuremberg Code, and Helsinki declaration respectively compared
to only 1% of nurses. There was a significant difference in opinions on various
questions related to medical ethics with p-value < 0.05 in 12 out of 22 questions.
Only a few (12.1% doctors vs. 25.2% nurses) stood in support of the physician-
assisted dying.
Conclusion
The study showed that there was inadequate as well as a non-uniform level of
knowledge of three major codes of medical ethics and principles related to it which
resulted in significant disparity in the attitude and practice of medical ethics among
doctors and nurses in Pokhara valley.
KEY WORDS
Doctors, Medical ethics, Nepal, Nurses
Description
Hirachan N, Shrestha N
Department of Forensic Medicine
Gandaki Medical College, Pokhara, Nepal
Keywords
Doctors, Medical ethics, Nepal, Nurses