Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
REVISTA ROMANA DE BIOETICA, cilt.12, sa.3, ss.19-31, 2014 (SCI-Expanded)
Introduction: Conscience can be defined as one's subjective ethical guidance system and difficult ethical situations may give rise to burdensome feelings of a troubled conscience. During clinical practice, health care professionals can be actively involved in challenging situations and they may experience conscientious feelings. Because of insufficient healthcare resources, excessive workload and witnessing suffering, nurses and physicians confront moral distress when they have to make difficult choices between following the rules and following their conscience. Aim: This study was conducted to determine the views of nurses and physicians on conscience and to investigate the differences between the two groups. Methods: The sample consisted of 266 nurses and physicians aged from 20 to 48 years. The participants completed a self-reported questionnaire consisting of demographic information and Likert-6 type items concerning conscience. Data was collected in October 2010. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Results: While the nurses were more likely to agree with the statement " we cannot avoid the voice of conscience"; the physicians were more likely to agree with " our conscience can give us the wrong signals". Both groups tended to disagree with the statement " I have to deaden my conscience in order to keep working in healthcare". Statistically significant positive correlations were found between the age and agreement with the statements " voice of conscience must be interpreted", " when I follow my conscience, I develop as a human being". Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it can be concluded that conscience is important for both professional groups. However, there are statistically significant differences between the nurses' and physicians' views of conscience.