Abstract

The paper analyzes ethical codes in the health care profession in Slovakia while considering the four principle approach in medical ethics formulated by Beauchamp and Childress. For these purposes, the individual principles of this theory are identified and presented in light of performance in the health care profession. The second part introduces the main legal documents which represent the professional codes of ethics for physicians, nurses and midwives in Slovakia. In those, I have tried to identify the presence of basic principles of medical ethics and the way they are formulated in the Slovak health care system. The aim is to show the capabilities of professional health care ethics in Slovakia to react to current trends of medical ethics and models within the health care system.