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Ethical issues in Australian hospitals
Author(s) -
McNeill Paul M,
Walters Julie D,
Webster Ian W
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1994.tb126515.x
Subject(s) - autonomy , ethical issues , descriptive research , nursing , public hospital , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , medicine , confidentiality , family medicine , psychology , political science , sociology , engineering ethics , social science , law , engineering
Objective To identify the most common ethical issues of concern in Australian hospitals. Design A descriptive study using data collected by means of a questionnaire. Participants Seven hundred and thirty‐nine (74%) hospital administrators and employees nominated by hospital administrators in Australian public and private hospitals. Results Over half the respondents reported that ethical concerns had been raised in relation to: making “not for resuscitation orders”; the treatment of patients with HIV and AIDS; interprofessional conflict; and the allocation of resources. Conclusion “End of life” concerns, patient autonomy issues, questions of resource distribution, and communication difficulties commonly raise ethical concerns in Australian hospitals.