The Experiences of Healthcare Providers Regarding Professional Ethics of Front Line Health Workers (A Qualitative Study)

Background and purpose: There is a return to rationality and ethics in the approach of current world. After several eras, humanity comes to consider rationality and ethics in addressing its physical and moral needs. From this point of view, ethics could be considered as a center of evolution in the future. This approach mainly influences those practices that are in the lead in serving people. Therefore, in this study, the aim was to investigate stakeholders’ points of view about Phenomenological ethics and professional behavior of auxiliary health workers at first level of health services delivery.   Materials and methods: This qualitative study was conducted through semi-structural interview in ۲۰۱۷. The study population included ۹ principals of staff technical unit, ۵ physicians in charge of rural comprehensive health centers, and ۱۲ auxiliary health workers of affiliated health houses who were selected purposefully. After conducting the interviews, the data was transferred to paper and analyzed using content analysis with emphasis on core and non-core factors that influence behavior and professional ethics of auxiliary health workers from inter-organization stakeholders’ viewpoints.  Findings: The results of this study included two general domains of the main elements (ethical and behavioral), and a total of ۱۲ sub-areas of each of the two main elements, including ۳ sub-domains that comprised the moral criterion: (secrecy, censorship, good behavior), as well as three behavioral criteria (accountability, expressive power, motivation), and ultimately ۱۰۷ basic categories from ۳ perspectives, which were all selected by institutional stakeholders: technical units, physicians of comprehensive health centers, as well as healthcare providers. Conclusion: The expressed experiences have shown that the issues surrounding the ethics and behavior of auxiliary health workers who are providing health services at the front line of health system, is inevitable in order to intervene in improving and promoting the quality of morality and behavior of this group of health professionals.

Keywords:

Professional Ethics , Professional Behavior , Front Line Services , Qualitative Study