Development of Bioethics and Professionalism in the Healthcare Context

Bioethics is concerned with reflections on the actions, thoughts, motivations and intentions of the “good” healthcare professional. These reflections have a long history and continue to expand as healthcare technology and contexts develop and change at a rapid pace. On the one hand it has resulted in the external codification of various principles and the establishment of professional bodies, while on the other hand it has sparked interest in professionalism as an inherent virtue. The first section of the chapter provides a basic definition of bioethics. This is followed in the second section by an overview of the most important developments in bioethics, specifically with regards to the development of various international codes and guidelines following in particular the Nazi atrocities in World War II. An overview is provided of the following codes/guidelines: Nuremburg Code (1947); Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948); Declaration of Helsinki (1964); Belmont Report (1979); Principlism and the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights (2005). The third section focuses on the development of bioethics in South Africa, specifically with regards to the role of healthcare practitioners and professional bodies during Apartheid (pre-1994) and post-Apartheid (1994 till present). The last section of the chapter highlights the important role of professionalism as a healthcare virtue. It describes the basic characteristics of professionals, which is then followed by a description of five focal virtues that healthcare practitioners should possess, namely compassion, discernment, trustworthiness, integrity and conscientiousness.