Ethical Views of First-year Medical Students and Nursing Students in a Joint Bioethics Course / 医学教育

ABSTRACT

The ethical views of 85 first-year medical students and 53 first-year nursing students were studied during a joint bioethics course. Questions used to examine their views included “Would you treat a mentally ill man condemned to death so that he could be executed?” ; “Should a doctor inform a patient of the risk of an extremely rare but possibly fatal drug reaction?” ; “Is criminal prosecution of a surgeon responsible for a patient's death reasonable?” ; and “Should a surgeon responsible for a patient's death be prosecuted for manslaughter?” Students were also asked two open-ended questions about the beginning of human life and what they considered the single most important ethical issue. Medical students favored treating a condemned, mentally ill man more frequently than did nursing students. More than 85% of all students endorsed full disclosure of medical information. Although most students considered reasonable the criminal prosecution of a responsible surgeon, significantly fewer medical students than nursing students thought that the surgeon should be prosecuted for manslaughter. Most students believed that human life begins at conception. The ethical issue named as most important by medical students was brain death/organ transplant and that named by nursing students was assisted reproductive technology. Thus, medical and nursing students at the beginning of their professional education agree on some, and differ on other, ethical issues. The author hopes that joint student courses on medical ethics will foster ethical sensitivity and stimulate and enhance future dialogue among healthcare professionals.