scholarly journals An ethical issue: nurses’ conscientious objection regarding induced abortion in South Korea

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chung Mee Ko ◽  
Chin Kang Koh ◽  
Ye Sol Lee
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Conscientious Objection ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Moral Integrity ◽  
Perioperative Nurses ◽  
National Health Care ◽  
Nursing Leaders ◽  
Legal Reforms

Abstract Background The Constitutional Court of South Korea declared that an abortion ban was unconstitutional on April 11, 2019. The National Health Care System will provide abortion care across the country as a formal medical service. Conscientious objection is an issue raised during the construction of legal reforms. Methods One hundred sixty-seven perioperative nurses responded to the survey questionnaire. Nurses’ perception about conscientious objection, support of legislation regarding conscientious objection, and intention to object were measured. Logistic regression was used to explore the factors associated with support of the legislation and the intention to conscientiously object. Results Only 28.8% of the responding nurses were aware of health care professionals’ conscientious objection. The majority (68.7%) felt that patients’ rights should be prioritized over health care professionals’ conscientious objection. On the other hand, 45.8% supported the legislation on conscientious objection to abortion, and 42.5% indicated a willingness to refuse to participate in an abortion case if conscientious objection was permitted. Religion, awareness of conscientious objection, and prioritizing of nurses’ right to conscientious objection were significantly associated with supporting the legislation. Moreover, religion and prioritizing nurses' rights were significantly associated with the intention to conscientiously object. Conclusions This study provides information necessary for further discussion of nurses’ conscientious objection. Nursing leaders, researchers, and educators should appeal to nurses and involve them in making policies that balance a women's right to non-discrimination and to receiving appropriate care with nurses' rights to maintain their moral integrity without compromising their professional obligation.

scholarly journals Liberal Democratic Institutions and the Damages of Political Corruption1

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emanuela Ceva ◽  
Maria Paola Ferretti
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Conscientious Objection ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Political Equality ◽  
Liberal Democratic

This article contributes to the debate concerning the identification of politically relevant cases of corruption in a democracy by sketching the basic traits of an original liberal theory of institutional corruption. We define this form of corruption as a deviation with respect to the role entrusted to people occupying certain institutional positions, which are crucial for the implementation of public rules, for private gain. In order to illustrate the damages that corrupt behaviour makes to liberal democratic institutions, we discuss the case of health care professionals’ abuse of their right to conscientious objection to abortion services. We show that the conscience clause can be instrumentally abused to sabotage democratically established public rules and thus exert undue private influence on their implementation. In this sense, from a liberal democratic perspective, institutional corruption is problematic because it is disruptive of such fundamental liberal ideals as the impartiality of public institutions and citizens’ political equality.

A Matter of Conscience: Examining the Law and Policy of Conscientious Objection in Health Care

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-126
Author(s):  
Eileen K. Fry-Bowers
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Standard Of Care ◽  
Reproductive Technologies ◽  
Conscientious Objection ◽  
Health Care Facilities ◽  
Moral Disagreement ◽  
Moral Integrity ◽  
Sexually Transmitted ◽  
Medication Assisted Treatment

Conscientious objection refers to refusal by a health care provider (HCP) to provide certain treatments, including the standard of care, to a patient based upon the provider’s personal, ethical, or religious beliefs. Federal and state rules regarding conscientious objection have expanded the scope of legal protections that HCPs and institutions can invoke in support of refusal. Opponents of these rules argue that allowing refusal of care deprives patients of care that conforms to professionally established guidelines, contradicts long-standing principles related to informed consent, interferes with the ability of health care facilities to provide safe and efficient care, and leaves the patient without means of redress for injury. Proponents respond that such rules are necessary to preserve the moral integrity of providers, including institutions. Although refusal rules are most often associated with abortion, some HCPs have cited moral concerns regarding contraception, sterilization, prevention/treatment of sexually transmitted infections, transition-related care for transgender individuals, medication-assisted treatment of substance use disorders, the use of artificial reproductive technologies, and patient preferences for end-of-life care. Evidence suggests that the burden of conscientious refusal falls disproportionately on vulnerable populations, and legitimate concern exists that moral disagreement is merely pretext for discrimination. A careful balance must be struck between the defending the conscience rights of HCPs and the civil rights of patients.

Harm or Mere Inconvenience?

2020 ◽  
pp. 43-64
Author(s):  
Carolyn McLeod
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Reproductive Health ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Moral Identity ◽  
Conscientious Objection ◽  
Reproductive Autonomy ◽  
Power Dynamic ◽  
Sense Of Security ◽  
Patients Experience

Commentators often point out—in discussions about conscientious objection in reproductive health care in particular—that patients are merely inconvenienced rather than harmed by conscientious refusals. Chapter 2 opposes this view. Since good empirical evidence is lacking about the effects of conscientious refusals on patients, the author has to speculate about their impact, which she does based on various factors, including the power dynamic between health care professionals and patients, and the well-documented stigma that patients experience when they request services such as abortions or emergency contraception. The author argues that in light of these factors, typical refusals in reproductive health care (those that aim to protect the life of the “unborn”) very likely cause harm. They do so by threatening the moral identity of patients (as good or fine people), their sense of security (in being able to control what happens to their body), or their reproductive autonomy.

scholarly journals International Comparison of Six Basic eHealth Indicators Across 14 Countries: An eHealth Benchmarking Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (S 02) ◽  
pp. e46-e63
Author(s):  
Elske Ammenwerth ◽  
Georg Duftschmid ◽  
Zaid Al-Hamdan ◽  
Hala Bawadi ◽  
Ngai T. Cheung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
The United States ◽  
Patient Data ◽  
Health Record ◽  
Care Organization ◽  
Health Politics ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Record Data

Abstract Background Many countries adopt eHealth applications to support patient-centered care. Through information exchange, these eHealth applications may overcome institutional data silos and support holistic and ubiquitous (regional or national) information logistics. Available eHealth indicators mostly describe usage and acceptance of eHealth in a country. The eHealth indicators focusing on the cross-institutional availability of patient-related information for health care professionals, patients, and care givers are rare. Objectives This study aims to present eHealth indicators on cross-institutional availability of relevant patient data for health care professionals, as well as for patients and their caregivers across 14 countries (Argentina, Australia, Austria, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong as a special administrative region of China, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, South Korea, Sweden, Turkey, and the United States) to compare our indicators and the resulting data for the examined countries with other eHealth benchmarks and to extend and explore changes to a comparable survey in 2017. We defined “availability of patient data” as the ability to access data in and to add data to the patient record in the respective country. Methods The invited experts from each of the 14 countries provided the indicator data for their country to reflect the situation on August 1, 2019, as date of reference. Overall, 60 items were aggregated to six eHealth indicators. Results Availability of patient-related information varies strongly by country. Health care professionals can access patients' most relevant cross-institutional health record data fully in only four countries. Patients and their caregivers can access their health record data fully in only two countries. Patients are able to fully add relevant data only in one country. Finland showed the best outcome of all eHealth indicators, followed by South Korea, Japan, and Sweden. Conclusion Advancement in eHealth depends on contextual factors such as health care organization, national health politics, privacy laws, and health care financing. Improvements in eHealth indicators are thus often slow. However, our survey shows that some countries were able to improve on at least some indicators between 2017 and 2019. We anticipate further improvements in the future.

scholarly journals How Is COVID-19 Affecting South Korea? What Is Our Current Strategy?

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 684-686 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minyoung Her
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Information Technology ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Current Strategy ◽  
Early Stages

ABSTRACTThe outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2 is expanding globally. South Korea is one of the countries most affected by COVID-19 from the very early stages of this pandemic. Explosive outbreaks occurred across South Korea in the first two months, and efforts to control this new virus have involved everyone across the country. To curb the transmission of the virus, health-care professionals, committees, and governments have combined many approaches, such as extensive COVID-19 screening, effective patient triage, the transparent provision of information, and the use of information technology. This experience could provide some valuable ideas and lessons to others who are fighting against COVID-19.

Conscientious Objection in Reproductive Health

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armand H. Matheny Antommaria
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Emergency Contraception ◽  
Conscientious Objection ◽  
Patient Access ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Professional Obligations ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Role Responsibilities

Conscientious objection in health care generally involves conflicts between health care providers asserting authority not to provide certain goods and services such as emergency contraception or abortion and patients seeking them. The conflict is may be exacerbated by objectors’ refusal to cooperate with others performing these actions. Equitable resolution of this conflict depends on the role responsibilities of health care providers and the availability of alternatives for patients. Protection of the integrity of providers should not substabtially limit patients’ access to needed goods and services, especially because of the power and knowledge differential between health care professionals and patients and the restrictions on patients obtaining goods and services through other means. Although professional obligations entail clear duties such as notification, informed consent, and emergency treatment, there is contining debate about obligations to refer and what constitutes discrimination. Organizations may make analogous claims regarding their integrity and similar systems should be developed to assure patient access.

scholarly journals Examining Researchers’ Pre-Understandings as a Part of the Reflexive Journey in Hermeneutic Research

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 160940692098571
Author(s):  
Clare Maxwell ◽  
Beate Ramsayer ◽  
Claire Hanlon ◽  
Jane McKendrick ◽  
Valerie Fleming
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Research Team ◽  
Conscientious Objection ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Sufficient Detail ◽  
German Philosopher ◽  
Hans Georg Gadamer

This article considers one of the philosophical sources of reflexivity, the concept of “pre-understandings” as envisaged by the German philosopher, Hans Georg Gadamer. There are a number of empirical research studies employing a Gadamerian approach, and while some authors may describe methods of examining pre-understandings and applying findings reflexively to hermeneutic enquiry, there remains a general lack of sufficient detail given over to the “how” in relation to this process. Furthermore, Gadamer describes how the “provoking” of one’s pre-understandings is required in order to make them realizable and this is rarely evident within authors’ work. As part of a hermeneutic research project exploring health professionals’ views of conscientious objection to abortion, we as a research team undertook a process of “provoking” our pre-understandings surrounding conscientious objection to abortion. This was undertaken by a preliminary discussion to examine our preunderstandings. A second discussion followed to examine if and how our pre-understandings had altered, and was conducted after the research team had read five transcribed interviews from a study on health care professionals’ perspectives of conscientious objection to abortion. By reviewing our pre-understandings, we were able to begin to make conscious what was unconscious, widening some of our initial views, being more definitive in others and in some cases endorsing our original pre-understandings. Using a reflexive process, we assimilated these findings with our research project and used it to inform our data collection, analysis and interpretation, demonstrating the application of rigor to our hermeneutic study.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document