Department of Physiotherapy Health Sciences, Health Sciences Center, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Physiother Theory Pract. 2013 Feb;29(2):96-112. doi: 10.3109/09593985.2012.700388. Epub 2012 Jul 5.
An important aspect of physiotherapy professional autonomy is the ethical code of the profession, both collectively and for the individual member of the profession. The aim of this study is to explore and add additional insight into the nature and scope of ethical issues as they are understood and experienced by Danish physiotherapists in outpatient, private practice.
A qualitative approach was chosen and semi-structured interviews with 21 physiotherapists were carried out twice and analyzed, using a phenomenological hermeneutic framework.
One main theme emerged: The ideal of being beneficent toward the patient. Here, the ethical issues uncovered in the interviews were embedded in three code-groups: 1) ethical issues related to equality; 2) feeling obligated to do one's best; and 3) transgression of boundaries.
In an ethical perspective, physiotherapy in private practice is on a trajectory toward increased professionalism. Physiotherapists in private practice have many reflections on ethics and these reflections are primarily based on individual common sense arguments and on deontological understandings. As physiotherapy by condition is characterized by asymmetrical power encounters where the parties are in close physical and emotional contact, practiced physiotherapy has many ethical issues embedded. Some physiotherapists meet these issues in a professional manner, but others meet them in unconscious or unprofessional ways. An explicit ethical consciousness among Danish physiotherapists in private practice seems to be needed. A debate of how to understand and respect the individual physiotherapist's moral versus the ethics of the profession needs to be addressed.
物理治疗专业自主性的一个重要方面是专业的道德规范，无论是集体的还是职业个体成员的。本研究的目的是探索并深入了解丹麦门诊私人执业的物理治疗师所理解和体验的伦理问题的性质和范围。
选择了定性方法，并对 21 名物理治疗师进行了两次半结构化访谈，并使用现象学解释学框架进行了分析。
出现了一个主要主题：对患者有益的理想。在这里，访谈中揭示的伦理问题嵌入在三个代码组中：1）与平等相关的伦理问题；2）尽最大努力的义务感；3）跨越界限。
从伦理角度看，私人执业中的物理治疗正在朝着更高的专业化方向发展。私人执业中的物理治疗师对伦理有很多思考，这些思考主要基于个人常识论点和义务论理解。由于条件性的物理治疗以不对称的权力接触为特征，双方在身体和情感上都有密切接触，因此实践中的物理治疗存在许多伦理问题。一些物理治疗师以专业的方式应对这些问题，而另一些则以无意识或不专业的方式应对。丹麦私人执业的物理治疗师似乎需要明确的伦理意识。需要讨论如何理解和尊重个体物理治疗师的道德与职业道德。
