The level of knowledge of the Code of Ethics among nurses and midwifes

Introduction. Professional ethics "is a system of rules and norms which provide an exemplary, from the
moral point of view, way of behaviour of a given professional group’s representatives. This ordered and
written down system of professional ethics norms is a code of professional ethics". To be able to make
a right choice, each nurse should know The Professional Code of Ethics for Nurses and Midwives.
Imposing the rules of law points to the best theoretical and practical preparation indispensable to
performing the profession competently and efficiently.

Aim. The aim of the paper was to obtain some information about the level of knowledge of the code of
ethics among nurses and midwives of the Pomeranian Medical Academy in Szczecin.

Material and methods. The research group consisted of 88 Pomeranian Medical Academy students
from Szczecin. The research was conducted among 31 I year MA extra-mural students, 18 I year MA daily students and among 39 complementary studies students. A questionnaire designed by one of the
authors of the paper was filled in. The obtained results from the questionnaire were used in the statistical
analysis.

Results and conclusions. In the question about the frequency of feeling ethical doubts, 46 nurses said
they had them very rarely, 29 nurses felt them a few times a month, 7 nurses did not have them and
6 nurses claimed they voiced ethical doubts a few times a week.
The respondents were also asked if they had a need of organizing workshops, conferences or courses
on ethical aspects. A huge majority of them (77%) said they had a need of organizing such workshops
with philosophers, ethicists, priests or sociologists. Next, 9% of respondents had that need only in
nurses« circles during hospital workshops and 7% thought that these workshops should be organized
only in the circle of medical department workers or clinic ones. Finally, 6% of students admitted they
did not have such a need at all.