Ethical Dilemmas Experienced by Healthcare Professionals in Combating the Epidemic and Development of Resilience Sensitive to Ethical Values

The aim of the "Ethical Dilemmas Experienced by Healthcare Professionals in Combating the Epidemic and Developing Ethical Resilience Project" is to identify and analyze the ethical dilemmas and ethical conflicts experienced by healthcare professionals involved in the fight against COVID-19, individually and institutionally, in this process. to reduce the effects of mental strains caused by them and to contribute to the development of their resilience. Within the scope of the project, ethical dilemmas and ethical conflicts experienced by 121 participating healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 epidemic were investigated and reported using quantitative methods. On the other hand, in-depth interviews were conducted with 25 healthcare professionals, whose consent was obtained from the participants of the quantitative measurement study, and their ways of coping with ethical dilemmas and ethical disagreements were investigated and analyzed. The most basic finding of the study is that the participating health workers, who are potential patients and who have the potential to be carriers at a high rate, have to continue to serve despite the limited protective equipment suitable for combating infectious diseases, and the lack of appropriate physical conditions and work program, so they are not obliged to serve for the benefit of the society. they have experienced ethical conflicts arising from this ethical dilemma by being in an ethical dilemma between taking care of their own health. Majority of the participating health workers had to ignore their own health in order to protect the health of the patients. Due to the ethical dilemmas experienced by the participating healthcare professionals, the inability to prevent situations that conflict with their professional values ​​and individual ethical understanding caused moral strain. Among the participating healthcare professionals, the most prominent finding is that strategies for coping with moral distress have not been developed predominantly and that stress has become systematic. Protecting the health of health workers, who are at the forefront of health care services in the fight against the pandemic, is of primary importance in the fight, and therefore, it is necessary to increase the protective measures for the health of the health workers in the planning of the fight against the pandemic and to make the hospitals suitable for pandemics by taking occupational safety measures in the hospitals. Communication channels should be opened in hospitals to facilitate communication between branches and occupational groups and to include different levels in decision-making processes. Ethics committees and councils should be established within hospitals and social struggle units that will enable healthcare professionals to make ethical decisions more easily, and communication between these units and healthcare personnel should be ensured. Finally, it is suggested that psychological support programs aimed at increasing the resilience of health workers should proceed by including the concepts of moral strain and moral injury on their agenda, based on the determination that one of the sources of the stress experienced is the damage to moral consciousness as a result of the circumstances.