Institute:Office of National Coordinator (ONC) Workforce Training Curriculum
Component:The Culture of Health Care
Unit:Ethics and Professionalism
Lecture:Ethical and legal standards
Slide content:Whistleblowing and Health Care Ethics Generally, about 6 out of 10 people who observe workplace misconduct will report it The percentage may be even lower in the health care field Fewer than 5% of medical students in their last weeks of training said they would report unethical behavior 17
Slide notes:All of this leads to another area in which law, ethics, and professionalism intertwine: whistleblowing. The term whistleblower refers to someone who reports illegal or unethical behavior to his or her superiors at work or to outside authorities. A wide range of activities have been described as health care whistleblowing, from telling a patient about an error to disclosing violations of professional conduct that are occurring throughout an entire institution. Generally, about six out of ten people who observe workplace misconduct report it to their superiors or to outside authorities. The figure may be even lower in the health care professions. In one study, only about five of one hundred medical students who were in the last weeks of their training said they would report unethical behavior. 17