Implications for bioethics on the moral reasoning of allied health professionals

Allied health professionals comprise a major segment of the total health care workforce. Recent advances in technology combined with increasingly complex patient-related issues require health care practitioners to make ethical decisions and judgments.; The purpose of this study was to examine how prepared allied health personnel were to address bioethical issues in health care, and to determine why they make the moral decisions they do in response to particular ethical situations. A qualitative methodology was employed with thirty-six case study subjects at a large, midwest urban medical center. Sixty-six percent of the population were female and more than half of the overall sample had studied bioethics. The subjects felt most knowledgeable about Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders, informed consent and health care documents related to life support. A majority of the professionals (77.8%) reflected on their code of ethics while performing routine duties.; Several ethical themes emerged in the workplace environment with the allied health practitioners including issues of teamwork, confidentiality, assessment and documentation. An ethic of care was identified in the daily interactions with patients and when focusing on the technical components of their role. Professional judgment was expressed as essential by all of the subjects in making a morally defensible decision.; The practitioners maintained a level of moral reasoning, assessed by the DIT, congruent with the average adult population but slightly below the norms for staff nurses and college students in general. In response to specific ethical dilemmas the subjects relied upon their formal training, work/life experiences or a strong personal value system.; The allied health professionals perceived the need for bioethics coursework as a link between formal training and the health care setting to maintain the dynamics of the provider-patient relationship. As a practitioner, their patient care role encompassed a holistic view of the the approach to delivering health services.