Background. Midwives provide the majority of maternal and child healthcare in South Africa. The care provided by midwives during childbirth is a unique life experience for women, and in order to provide safe care, midwives are expected to comply with ethical principles, policies and legislation governing their profession, as guided by the International Confederation of Midwives. Objective. To establish midwives’ perception of ethical and professional practice in selected labour units of public healthcare, in Tshwane District, Gauteng Province, SA. Methods. A (...) qualitative, exploratory, descriptive cross-sectional design was applied by use of in-depth interviews. Non-probability purposive sampling was used to draw a sample from midwives with 2 or more years of experience working in the labour units. Data saturation was reached with the eighth participant. The digitally recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim. Data analysis was based on interpretive description. Results. The findings revealed that midwives do understand the ethical code of conduct. They experience challenges such as staff shortages, non-compliance with policies and lack of managerial support, which compromise ethical conduct to a certain extent. Conclusion. It is hoped that the suggested administrative, midwifery practice and research recommendations will guide the process of empowering midwives in ethical practice. (shrink)

Background There is a high incidence of burns in China and the sequelae of post-burn scar growth, disfigurement, and other body image disorders can cause serious psychological distress to burns patients, and negatively affecting the patient’s dignity. However, there is limited knowledge relating to the dignity of burns patients. Aim To investigate the factors that affect dignity in burns patients. Design Cross-sectional study. Participants and research context We recruited 323 burn patients from the burn unit of a tertiary care hospital. (...) The Patient Dignity Scale, Burn Specific Health Scale-Brief, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were used to assess burn patients’ dignity, quality of life, anxiety, and depression, respectively. 18 sociodemographic variables were included in the questionnaire. Ethical considerations Before the data were collected, the study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Guangzhou Red Cross Hospital of Jinan University (Reference: 2022-149-02) and all patients provided and signed informed consent forms. Findings This study included 323 burns patients; of these, 26 (8%) had a mild loss of dignity, 94 (29.1%) had a moderate loss of dignity, 125 (38.7%) had a severe loss of dignity, and 78 (24.1%) had a very severe loss of dignity. The main factors that influence the loss of dignity in burns patients, including the department in which the patient was treated after their burns, gender, the clinical stage of the burn, quality-of-life, depression, resident medical insurance, the cause of the burn, and the burn site. Conclusions In most cases, the loss of dignity after burn injury is serious. Clinical health care professionals can provide personalized whole-life dignity care for patients by considering the factors that affect the dignity of burns patients, developing targeted dignity management programs, and implementing individualized interventions to maintain dignity, thus helping burns injury patients return to social life and work. (shrink)