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Ethical Behaviours in Clinical Practice Among Mexican Health Care Workers

Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Mexico City, Mexico, edith.valdez{at}imss.gob.mx, evaldesmz{at}cis.gob.mx

Pilar Lavielle

Unidad de Investigación en Epidemiología, Mexico City, Mexico

Miguel Bedolla

Pontifical University, Rome, Italy

Allison Squires

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

The objective of this study was to describe the cultural domain of ethical behaviours in clinical practice as defined by health care providers in Mexico. Structured interviews were carried out with 500 health professionals employed at the Mexican Institute of Social Security in Mexico City. The Smith Salience Index was used to evaluate the relevance of concepts gathered from the free listings of the interviewees. Cluster analysis and factor analysis facilitated construction of the conceptual categories, which the authors refer to as `dimensions of ethical practice'. Six dimensions emerged from the analysis to define the qualities that comprise ethical clinical practice for Mexican health care providers: overall quality of clinical performance; working conditions that favour quality of care; use of ethical considerations as prerequisites for any health care intervention; values favouring teamwork in the health professional—patient relationship; patient satisfaction scores; and communication between health care providers and patients. The findings suggest that improved working conditions and management practices that promote the values identified by the study's participants would help to improve quality of care.

Key Words: cultural domain • health care ethics • Mexico • nurses • physicians • social workers

Nursing Ethics, Vol. 15, No. 6, 729-744 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0969733008095384


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