The role of primary care nurses has expanded in recent years, and many now work for urgent care service providers. With role expansion comes increased professional autonomy, but this, in turn, carries a greater risk of error and, consequently, a greater need for medicolegal protection. This article considers some of the risks associated with out-of-hours care delivery, particularly in relation ...

Obesity is an important public health problem. Dietetic supplements are commonly used by obese patients who are not aware of the effectiveness or potential harms of these products. The aim of this paper is to discuss the ethical dilemma associated with the use of these supplements. The principles of autonomy, beneficence and justice are involved. Obesity as a chronic disease, requires qualified...

This article presents findings from a study of a clinical pathway for normal labour (Normal Labour Pathway) implemented in Wales, UK. The study was conducted between 2004 and 2006. The pathway aimed to support normal childbirth and reduce unnecessary childbirth interventions by promoting midwife-led care. This article focuses on how the pathway influenced the inter-professional relationships an...

abstract background: one of the important factors in the prediction of family planning outcome is paying attention to women’s role in decision making concerning fertility and household affairs. with the improvement of women’s status and autonomy, their control over fertility is expected to increase. the present study aimed to investigate the association between women’s autonomy and family plann...

OBJECTIVE To identify key issues affecting women general practitioners in their professional and non-professional lives. DESIGN A qualitative study using the Delphi technique, with three rounds of data provision circulated to each participant. Coding was used to ensure anonymity. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS The participants were a purposive sample of 40 women GPs drawn from all Australian Stat...

BACKGROUND Patient autonomy has been promoted as the most important principle to guide difficult clinical decisions. To examine whether practising physicians indeed value patient autonomy above other considerations, physicians were asked to weight patient autonomy against three other criteria that often influence doctors' decisions. Associations between physicians' religious characteristics and...

BACKGROUND The general practitioner in Norway is expected to ensure equity and effectiveness through fair rationing. At the same time, due to recent reforms of the Norwegian health care sector, both the role of economic incentives and patient autonomy have been strengthened. Studies indicate that modern general practitioners, both in Norway and in other countries are uncomfortable with the gate...

INTRODUCTION Sociological literature on the professions has focused on the fact that they are characterized by a high degree of autonomy, that is, legitimated control over their organization and terms of work.' The development of such autonomy must, therefore, be seen as central to the process of professionalization. However, the problems which beset sociologists in ascertaining whether profess...

the world of the professions is a world of lasting stereotypes, rhetorical claims and deceptive appearances; it is a world where often things are not as they are claimed to be or even as they initially appear to be. in particular, there seems to be a certain gap between public conceptions and imageries of professionalism (often including the professions’ own selfrepresentations) and current rea...