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Whistle-blowing process in healthcare: From suspicion to action
- Source :
- Nursing ethics. 26(2)
- Publication Year :
- 2017
-
Abstract
- Background: Whistle-blowing is an ethical activity that tries to end wrongdoing. Wrongdoing in healthcare varies from inappropriate behaviour to illegal action. Whistle-blowing can have negative consequences for the whistle-blower, often in the form of bullying or retribution. Despite the wrongdoing and negative tone of whistle-blowing, there is limited literature exploring them in healthcare. Objective: The aim was to describe possible wrongdoing in Finnish healthcare and to examine whistle-blowing processes described on the basis of the existing literature in healthcare as perceived by healthcare professionals. Research design: The study was a cross-sectional descriptive survey. The data were collected using the electronic questionnaire Whistle-blowing in Health Care and analysed statistically. Participants and research context: A total of 397 Finnish healthcare professionals participated, 278 of whom had either suspected or observed wrongdoing in healthcare, which established the data for this article. Ethical considerations: Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the University (20/2015). Permission to conduct the study was received according to the organisation’s policies. Findings: Wrongdoing occurs in healthcare, as 96% of the participants had suspected and 94% had observed wrongdoing. Regarding the frequency, wrongdoing was suspected (57%) and observed (52%) more than once a month. Organisation-related wrongdoing was the most common type of wrongdoing (suspected 70%, observed 66%). In total, two whistle-blowing processes were confirmed in healthcare: (1) from suspicion to consequences occurred to 27%, and (2) from observation to consequences occurred to 37% of the participants. Discussion and conclusion: Wrongdoing occurs in healthcare quite frequently. Whistle-blowing processes were described based on the existing literature, but two separate processes were confirmed by the empirical data. More research is needed on wrongdoing and whistle-blowing on it in healthcare.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Male
Adolescent
Whistleblowing
Process (engineering)
media_common.quotation_subject
0603 philosophy, ethics and religion
03 medical and health sciences
Wrongdoing
Surveys and Questionnaires
Health care
Medicine
Humans
Finland
ta316
Whistle blowing
media_common
Aged
Chi-Square Distribution
030504 nursing
business.industry
Process Assessment, Health Care
Inappropriate behaviour
Questionnaire
06 humanities and the arts
Public relations
Middle Aged
Issues, ethics and legal aspects
Cross-Sectional Studies
Action (philosophy)
Female
060301 applied ethics
0305 other medical science
business
Social psychology
Delivery of Health Care
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14770989
- Volume :
- 26
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Nursing ethics
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....cf6c8043242efcdd7be0fea5b82fe073