CORRUPTION AS A FORM OF UNPROFESSIONALISM OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION SPECIALISTS (review of foreign literature)

The article presents an overview of foreign literature reflecting the problem of unprofessional behavior of civil servants manifested through corrupt actions. The essence of public administration at the ideological and institutional level is analyzed, the main causes of corruption of civil servants are determined. It is concluded that corruption not only negatively affects the image of state power, but also serves as a barrier to the implementation of the goals and objectives of public administration aimed at meeting the needs of society.

To #medbikini or not to #medbikini: Potentially Unprofessional Behavior on Social Media for Healthcare Professionals – The Devil is in the Details (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Social media (SM) presence among healthcare professionals (HCPs) is ubiquitous and largely beneficial for their personal and professional lives. New standards are forming in the context of e-professionalism, which are loosening the predefined older and “offline” terms. With these benefits also come dangers, with exposure to evaluation on all levels from peers, superiors and the general public, as witnessed in the #medbikini affair. The “devils in the details” of e-professionalism boundaries are explored in this paper. OBJECTIVE Objectives of this study are: a) to develop a new coding scheme for the assessment of unprofessional behavior on Facebook (FB) of medical/dental students and faculty, b) to compare reliability between the old and new coding schemes, c) to compare gender-based differences for the assessment of the professional content on FB, d) to validate the new coding scheme, and e) to assess the level of and to characterize online professionalism on publicly available FB profiles of medical/dental students and faculty. METHODS A search was performed via a new FB account using systematic probabilistic sample of students and faculty in the University of Zagreb School of Medicine and School of Dental Medicine. Each profile was subsequently assessed with regard to professionalism based on previously published criteria, and compared using the “new coding scheme”, developed for this study. RESULTS Inter-coder reliability (ICR) shows an increase when “new coding matrix” was used for the comparison of gender-based coding results. Results show an increase in the gender-based agreement of the final codes for the category professionalism, from 85% in the 1st phase to 96.2% in the 2nd phase. Final results of the 2nd phase show there was almost no difference between women and men for coding “potentially unprofessional” content (2.9% vs. 2.6%), nor for coding “unprofessional” content (4.6% vs. 4.9%). For the definitive results, significant differences between students and faculty were identified regarding the existence of identifiable FB accounts (49.2% vs. 20.2%; χ21=30.73, P<.001) and affiliation of the school was revealed (93.7% vs. 65.2%, χ21=20.1, P<.001). In professionalism variable, students had less “potentially objectionable” content than faculty (2.9% vs. 4.2%), however more “unprofessional” content (5.8% vs. 0%). CONCLUSIONS “New coding matrix” for assessing professionalism of HCPs on FB is a validated and a more objective instrument. Gender of coders did not affect results for coding “unprofessional” nor “potentially objectionable” content using the newly developed methodology and criteria. This research emphasizes the role that context plays in perception of “unprofessional” and “potentially unprofessional/objectionable” content, and provides insight into the existence of different sets of rules for online and offline interaction, that marks behavior as e-(un)professional. The level of e-professionalism on FB profiles available for public viewing of medical/dental students and faculty has shown a high level of understanding of e-professionalism.

Gender equality in states’ armed forces

The aim of the article is to disclose the most common challenges faced by women during military service based on the results of the gender equality state’s analysis in the armed forces of various states, and to develop suggestions for their solution. The use of the comparative method allowed to compare the existing doctrinal approaches to the women’s gender equality concept in the modern states’ armed forces, to determine the quantitative rates of women’s service in the armed forces of various states and to analyze the most common challenges faced by women servicemen in the time of service. In order to solve gender inequalities in the armed forces, their Ministries of Defense should introduce measures promoting women’s rights in the armed forces. Successful implementation of this goal requires the solution of a number of tasks, including the eradication of the following cases: unprofessional behavior; bullying; morally outdated double and inconsistent standards’ application; sexual harassment and assaults on women; the application of any stereotypes based on the violation of women’s equal rights to serve in the armed forces on par with men, etc.

Experience of Indonesian medical students of ethical issues during their clinical clerkship in a rural setting

Although ethics is an essential part of medical education, little attention has been paid to ethics education during the clerkship phase, where medical students observe how physicians make decisions regarding various ethical problems. Specific nuances and cultural contexts such as working in a rural setting can determine ethical issues raised. This phenomenology study aimed to explore ethical issues experienced by Indonesian students during clinical clerkship in a rural setting. In-depth interviews were used to explore students’ experiences. Participants were ten students, selected on gender and clerkship year variations. Data saturation was reached after eight interviews, followed by two additional interviews. Thematic analysis was used in this study, and trustworthiness was ensured through data and investigator triangulation, member checking, and audit trail. Three main themes found in this study were limited facilities and resources, healthcare financing and consent issues, as well as unprofessional behavior of healthcare providers. Many ethical issues related to substandard care were associated to limited resources and complexities within the healthcare system in the rural setting. Early exposure to recurrent ethical problems in healthcare can help students prepare for their future career as a physician in a rural setting.

Social workers’ perceptions of their peers’ unprofessional behavior

Summary This article explores social workers’ perceptions of their colleagues’ professional mistakes, and the influences of those opinions. Vignettes in a factorial survey helped to determine whether certain variables related to the social worker or the situation influenced the perception of others’ professional errors and ethical violations. The changed variables included personal characteristics of the offending social worker such as perceived race, gender, and sexual orientation of the social worker, and characteristics of the situation, such as the length of time involved in unprofessional behavior. Findings Licensed social workers in six U.S. states ( n = 5596) read vignettes based on real cases brought before licensing boards ( n = 22,127) and assigned levels of seriousness and importance to discipline. The vignettes rated most highly involved perceived harm to a client or other vulnerable individual. Those on the lower end of seriousness and importance to discipline were those violations against the profession of social work. Analysis of changed variables indicated respondents’ ratings were influenced by several situational factors, but not by personal characteristics of the social worker involved in the vignette. Applications Our findings provide some insight into the decision-making factors important to social workers. The results may be helpful to licensing boards considering the contextual factors of unprofessional behavior and whether to discipline certain actions.

Body Mass Index role in Lumbar Sacrum Spine Anterio-Posterior and Lateral Radiography by adjusting the radiation exposure factor mAs & kVp to avoid unnecessary radiation dose in patient- An Observational Study

Background - To evaluate the role of BMI values before each L. S. spine radiograph and to choose the optimum radiation exposure factors without compromised the radiographic image quality. The data of BMI values of each patient’s and radiation exposure values like mAs & kVp were collected. This study was based on the observation analysis of BMI values with radiation exposure parameters like mAs & kVp. Forty patients were added to this study. Out of which, 26 were female and 14 male patients were added. Result - In the result, the exposure factors were used in the first two categories i.e. normal BMI and overweight BMI were found optimum with good anatomical details and good quality radiographs. But in the rest three BMI categories i.e Pre-Obese, Pre-obese 1, and Obese, the radiation exposure factors were not found appropriate in different BMI values/categories. Conclusion - The study concludes that blind selection of radiation exposure factors (mAs & kVp) for each X-Ray procedure, is unprofessional behavior of radiographer. Appropriate radiation exposure chart, the amount of radiation dose can be reduced by 20–30% without compromising the radiographic image quality.

Teaching Ethics and Professionalism: A National Survey of Ophthalmology Residency Program Directors

Background While ethics and professionalism are important components of graduate medical education, there is limited data about how ethics and professionalism curricula are taught or assessed in ophthalmology residency programs. Objective This study aimed to determine how U.S. ophthalmology residency programs teach and assess ethics and professionalism and explore trainee preparedness in these areas. Methods Directors from accredited U.S. ophthalmology residency programs completed an online survey about components of programs' ethics and professionalism teaching curricula, strategies for assessing competence, and trainee preparedness in these areas. Results Directors from 55 of 116 programs (46%) responded. The most common ethics and professionalism topics taught were informed consent (38/49, 78%) and risk management and litigation (38/49, 78%), respectively; most programs assessed trainee competence via 360-degree global evaluation (36/48, 75%). While most (46/48, 95%) respondents reported that their trainees were well or very well prepared at the time of graduation, 15 of 48 (31%) had prohibited a trainee from graduating or required remediation prior to graduation due to unethical or unprofessional conduct. Nearly every program (37/48, 98%) thought that it was very important to dedicate curricular time to teaching ethics and professionalism. Overall, 16 of 48 respondents (33%) felt that the time spent teaching these topics was too little. Conclusion Ophthalmology residency program directors recognized the importance of an ethics and professionalism curriculum. However, there was marked variation in teaching and assessment methods. Additional work is necessary to identify optimal strategies for teaching and assessing competence in these areas. In addition, a substantial number of trainees were prohibited from graduating or required remediation due to ethics and professionalism issues, suggesting an impact of unethical and unprofessional behavior on resident attrition.

Professionalism in Using Online Social Networking Tool: An Assessment of LIS Students’ Facebook Profiles

With the advent of social media, students must not only be aware of professionalism in their face to face interactions, but also in the electronic environment. The aim of this study was to assess the level of online professionalism on Facebook profiles publicly accessible by students. A research was carried out through a new Facebook account of all students at the Institute of Information Sciences, Noakhali Science and Technology University. Demographic details and photographs / comments of unprofessional behavior were recorded for each individual Facebook profile. There was a little alarming level of unprofessional content visible on student Facebook profiles. Students should be fully aware of their professional responsibility in the context of using social media.