Gaston M A, Brown D M, Waring M B
Department of Dental Hygiene, College of Allied Health Sciences, University of Tennessee, Memphis.
J Dent Hyg. 1990 Jun;64(5):217-24.
The purpose of this study was to determine the types and frequency of ethical problems encountered by dental hygienists, and to determine the type of instruction they have received in ethical theory and problem solving. A 40-item questionnaire mailed to 2,251 American Dental Hygienists' Association members resulted in a stratified random sample of 1,523 (68% response rate). The three ethical dilemmas most frequently encountered in dental hygiene practice are (1) observation of behavior in conflict with standard infection control procedures (66%); (2) failure to refer patients to a specialist such as a periodontist (60%); and (3) nondiagnosis of dental disease (58%). While almost 86% of the respondents received formal instruction in ethical theory, only 51% received formal instruction in methods for solving ethical problems. More hygienists (74%) felt their ethical principles were influenced by role models rather than by formal instruction (63%). This study indicates that serious ethical dilemmas are encountered by the majority of dental hygienists and that some modification of current entry-level education, as well as of continuing professional education, should be considered to prepare dental hygienists to recognize and resolve ethical problems.
本研究的目的是确定牙科保健员遇到的伦理问题的类型和频率，并确定他们在伦理理论和问题解决方面所接受的指导类型。向2251名美国牙科保健员协会成员邮寄了一份包含40个条目的问卷，最终得到了一个由1523名成员组成的分层随机样本（回复率为68%）。牙科保健实践中最常遇到的三个伦理困境是：（1）观察到与标准感染控制程序相冲突的行为（66%）；（2）未将患者转诊给专科医生，如牙周病医生（60%）；（3）未诊断出牙病（58%）。虽然近86%的受访者接受过伦理理论方面的正规指导，但只有51%的人接受过解决伦理问题方法的正规指导。更多的保健员（74%）认为他们的伦理原则受榜样的影响，而非正规指导（63%）。本研究表明，大多数牙科保健员都会遇到严重的伦理困境，应该考虑对当前的入门级教育以及继续职业教育进行一些调整，以使牙科保健员能够认识并解决伦理问题。
