Ethical Challenges for Healthcare Providers in War, an Integrative Review

Abstract

"Background: Healthcare providers should care for everyone without discrimination based on gender, race, religion, ethnic background, and social and economic status. Therefore, considering the importance of ethical challenges in war, this study was conducted with the aim of investigating the ethical challenges of healthcare providers in war. Method: This integrative review study was conducted in the field of ethical challenges for healthcare providers in war. Using the keywords of ethics, challenge, war, and healthcare providers that were selected based on the words of the medical subject heading (Mesh); a targeted search was conducted under the title and abstract in Google Scholar, ProQuest, SID, Web of Science, PubMed, Elsevier, and Scopus from 2000 to November 2022 and in Persian and English languages. Findings: twelve articles of 1160 were reviewed. Findings showed that healthcare providers face ethical challenges in war, including discrimination in care, unprofessional work, cultural and gender care, ethics versus security, and ethical decisions. Conclusion: Recognizing ethical challenges and providing solutions helps to provide better care and save people's lives in war. Developing programs for the preparation of health service providers, using existing experiences, emphasizing religious and humanitarian teachings, and holding periodical missions, can prepare health service providers to face these ethical challenges."