Medical Ethical Practices and the Rights of Health Care Receivers: A Case Study of Charles Henry Rennie Government Hospital in Kakata Margibi County, Liberia

Abstract

Medical ethics have long embodied a set of common values that guide actions for medical doctors and other healthcare professionals in serving the community. However, internationally accepted ethical codes are not always interpreted or practiced among all hospitals, especially when they face such critical challenges as HIV/AIDs, Ebola, and COVID-19 outbreaks. Even though many case studies revealed how hospitals responded to these emergency situations, we still do not know the extent to which African hospitals observe ethical practices such as beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, and justice in facing these outbreaks. This paper demonstrates how healthcare professionals at a Liberia’s hospital followed ethical practices. The primary data were collected by administering a questionnaire survey among 100 healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, midwives, and administrative personnel, in July 2022. The analysis was done using Microsoft Excel. We found that almost all the healthcare professionals in the survey had observed mandates to protect patient confidentiality and privacy. However, about 65% agreed that patients were entitled to have autonomy to decide on possible treatment options. Considering possible discrimination against patients in case of Ebola or COVID-19 outbreaks, 94% agreed that patients’ admission to the hospital had been based on illness types. In securing the safety of healthcare professionals in dealing with Ebola and COVID-19 patients, about 81% and 69% of the respondents said that they had had adequate PPEs and complied with safety protocols, respectively. These results show some weakness of the hospital in terms of eliminating discrimination against some patients with a particular illness despite the overall good availability of protective measures.

Keywords: Confidentiality; Medical ethics; Patients; Healthcare professionals; Liberia

DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/116-01

Publication date: May 30th 2024