Medical ethics as practiced by students, nurses and faculty members in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences

Abstract

fulfilling the related responsibilities has ethical aspects thatmust be addressed carefully. Each role requires extensivetraining, which usually takes place in university institutions.Ethics is applied in at least three academic areas, including: a)in education of students’ personal growth, b) in patient care,and c) in university communion in population-based healthcare. Given the importance of this issue in the moral domain,this study examines the correlation among the students, nursesand teacher’s opinions regarding principles of medical ethics atShiraz University of Medical Sciences.Methods: This is a descriptive-analytic and cross-sectional studyconducted in 2010. The participants of this research consistedof all medical students, nurses in public hospitals, and facultymembers in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. For validityevaluation, the expert panel method and for reliability evaluation,test-retest method was used.Results: Based on the medical ethics’ scores in these three groups,there was a significant relationship between the mean scores ofstudent-nurses and employed nurses, but there was no significantrelationship between those of student-faculties. Also the meanscore of the students was the highest in medical ethics.Conclusion: In this study, we presented a list of virtues and moralcharacteristics of medical staff and found out the method ofpracticing medical ethics in everyday life of students to improvethe moral reasoning of teachers, nurses and students. Moreover,medical ethics, with the presentation of specific criteria forethical behavior in various domains of human life, especiallyin dealing with patients, can help practice ethical values in themedical community.Keywords: Ethics, Medical ethics, Student, Nurse, Faculty