ETHICS IN PUBLIC-HEALTH PRACTICE - A SURVEY OF PUBLIC-HEALTH NURSES IN SOUTHERN LOUISIANA

The present study was designed to help learn more about the ethical in terests and concerns of public health nurses employed in state and loc al health departments. Self-administered postal questionnaires were ma iled to 41 public health nurses employed at health units in Region I o f the Louisiana Office of Public Health. Basic demographic information was obtained along with information about the workers' previous instr uction or training in ethics and the nature of ethical conflicts encou ntered in their public health practice. Only 38% (15 of 39) of the sur veyed nurses had had formal instruction in ethics. Even fewer (7.3%) h ad received continuing education on ethics. Most of the nurses felt co nfident in their ability to recognize an ethical conflict or dilemma i n the workplace; fewer felt confident in their ability to resolve an e thical conflict or dilemma. A high proportion of the nurses agreed tha t there is a need for continuing education courses on ethics for publi c health workers. Nurses who had received formal ethics instruction we re more likely to feel confident in their ability to recognize an ethi cal conflict in their public health practice. Continuing education pro grams on ethics are needed that are designed to meet the specific need s of frontline public health workers.