The survey of midwive's knowledge, attitude and practice about professional ethics codes in the maternity of Mashhad educational hospitals in 2014

One of the fundamental goals of health provider systems in the world is observance of the ethical standards in care providing. Since midwives are responsible for women's health care, considering the moral principles in this profession seems to be necessary. The present study was performed with aim to survey the knowledge, attitude and practice among midwives working in the maternity of educational hospitals in Mashhad.

This descriptive study was performed on 68 midwives working in the maternity of educational hospitals of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences with at least one year of employment in the maternity in 2014. Data collection tools were personal characteristics questionnaire and determining knowledge and attitude and the checklist of recording the midwives’ attitude and practice about the observance of professional ethical principles. Data analysis was performed using SPSS statistical software (version 16) and statistical tests such as descriptive, variance analysis and Pearson correlation coefficient. P< 0.05 was considered significant.

In the present study, in terms of knowledge about professional ethics codes, 46 midwives (67.6%) had a moderate level of knowledge. Also, 58 (85.3%) had good attitude and 54 (79.4%) had average performance about professional ethics codes.

Majority of midwives had moderate level of knowledge and performance about professional ethics codes. Therefore, according to the importance of observance of moral principles in providing midwifery care, it is recommended to hold professional ethics education courses to improve knowledge, attitude and practice of midwives.