KJC Korea
Journal Central

Medical decision-making is influenced by a variety of factors, including cultural norms, regional practices, patient values, physician responsibilities, and patient autonomy. Whether or not a patient’s family members should also influence the medical decision-making process is a legitimate question. This article defends the view that it is appropriate to involve families in the medical decision-making process at least in those cultures in which the family is the dominant social unit; in such cultures, it is necessary to recognize the rights of a patient’s family in making medical decisions.

Ethical issues in medicine are often accompanied by legal issues. While it is important to take the legal aspects of a medical ethical problem into consideration, following the law does not always ensure an ethical outcome. Moreover, not all ethical issues in medical practice have a legal component, and the law is limited procedurally as a means of dispute resolution. In this article we argue that medical professionals should have a general understanding of both medical ethics and medical law and have the ability to analyze the ethical and legal issues involved in medical practice. Furthermore, we claim that improving physician-patient communication is an important goal of medical ethics education not only from an ethical point of view, but also from a legal point of view, insofar as it may help to prevent future lawsuits against physicians.

The enhancement of human capacities through medical practice is becoming increasingly common and raises many ethical issues. One important question is whether it is even possible to distinguish between medical “treatment” and “enhancement.” On the one hand, there are those who believe that the distinction is both impossible and meaningless; on the other hand, it seems necessary to draw such a distinction in order to determine which medical procedures are compatible with the proper goals of medicine. Other important ethical issues raised by medical enhancement procedures include balancing a patient’s individual autonomy with the effects of these procedures on social equality and justice. This article argues that there is an urgent need for public debate and discussion on the ethical issues raised by medical enhancement procedures

This article reports on a study designed to assess the knowledge and attitudes about stem cell technology among nursing and medical students. The subjects consisted of 272 nursing students and 211 medical students. The instrument used was a self-reporting Likert-type questionnaire consisting of 57 assumptions related to stem cell technology. With respect to the level of stem cell knowledge, the score for all subjects was 54.7±20.3; the medical students’ score (59.1±15.5) was higher than that of nursing students (51.3±21.0) (p=.00). Attitudes toward stem cell technology varied according to individual topics. With respect to attitudes toward embryonic stem cells, the score for nursing students (3.28±0.47) was higher than that for medical students (3.18±0.51) (p=.02). The results of this study also show that knowledge about stem cell technology varies according to gender and experience with stem cell education, while attitudes toward stem cell technology vary according to religious convictions and beliefs about the intentions of ovum donation. Based on these results, we argue that there is a need for bioethics education programs that can raise the knowledge and attitudes about stem cell technology among nursing and medical students.

This study was performed to evaluate the moral judgments (P(%) and 4stage) of nursing and nonnursing student using a DIT test. The data were collected through self-reported questionnaires from 483 college students and measured by the Korean version of the Defining Issues Test (KDIT). The results were as follows. The mean P(%) scores of nursing and non-nursing student were 43.83(SD=15.70) and 38.27(SD=15.18) respectively. The difference between the scores for the two groups was statistically significant, as was the difference between the P(%) scores for males and females. The mean stage 4 scores for nursing and non-nursing students were 20.06(SD=11.97) and 18.83(SD=10.63) respectively. There were significant differences in the stage 4 scores for gender (F=3.18, p=.049), nursing ethics learning experience (t=4.59, p=.025), and number of siblings (t=5.17, p=.026). While the P(%) score for third-year students was lower than that for first-and second-year students, third-year students had the highest stage 4 score. The moral judgment score of third-year students is thought to be affected by clinical nurses during their practical training. The results of this study indicate a need for further longitudinal studies to measure the moral judgments of nursing students.

의료 전문인들에 대한 역할 개념의 탐색은 주로 철학적 관점에서 진행되고 있다. 한국 의료분야에서도 예외는 아니다. 본 연구는 의료분야에 종사하는 전문인들의 역할 개념을 철학적, 심리학적 관점에서 탐색해보는 것이다. 철학적 관점에 근거해서 본 역할개념으로는 권위와 책임감, 심리학적 관점에서는 개인적 효능감, 대인관계 통제감, 사회정치적 통제감이 역할 개념으로 제안되었다. 본 연구에서 제안한 다섯가지 역할 개념은 다음과 같다. 첫째, 권위는 환자들에게 서비스를 제공하기 위해 필요한 특별한 정보와 지식를 소유한 의료 전문인으로서의 질로 정의되었고, 둘째, 책임감은 환자의 사회적 신분과는 무관하게 환자를 위해 제공해야 할 서비스를 공정하게 제공하는 의무감으로 정의되었으며, 셋째, 개인적 효능감은 의료 전문인의 심리적 특성의 하나로서 의료 전문인의 성격과 삶을 통제함으로써 얻게 되는 자기 성취감과 자기 확심감으로 정의되었다. 넷째, 대인관계 통제감은 환자나 환자의 가족등을 포함해서 의료 활동에 관여하는 모든 사람들과의 관계를 통제하고 관리할 수 있는 능력, 다섯째, 사회정치적 통제감은 사회정치적 체계의 목표와 전문인으로서의 개인적 목표사이의 갈등 혹은 차이를 해결하는 능력으로 정의되었다. 본 연구를 통해 몇가지 제안을 하면 다음과 같다. 첫째, 역할 개념을 탐색하는 방법을 철학적 관점이외의 심리학적 관점 더 나아가 다른 관점들에 비추어 폭넓게 역할 개념을 조명해볼 수 있을 것이다. 둘째, 본 연구에서 제안한 다섯 가지 역할 개념을 기초로 해서 의료 전문인들의 역할 개념과 윤리의식을 측정할 수 있는 타당한 검사지를 개발할 수 있을 것이다. 셋째, 의료 전문인이외의 다른 전문가 집단의 역할 개념을 탐색하고 설명하는 데에도 도움이 될 것이다.