Professionalism of Healthcare Jobs in the War

Abstract

Background: Professionalism is an important characteristic of professional jobs including nursing and medicine. Many professional values during the crisis are glaring. Objectives: This study was conducted to explain the role of the Iran-Iraq war in the professionalism of healthcare disciplines based on the documented experiences of medical staff. Methods: This is part of a qualitative study which used the conventional content analysis in 2014 - 2016. The researcher collected and analyzed 119 memories of the healthcare providers about the Iran-Iraq war, simultaneously. Results: Professionalism was one of the main categories emerged from the analysis of data. This theme included six sub-themes, “promotion of personal and professional empowerment”, “compliance with laws and regulations”, “holistic care”, “expression of good traits”, “interpersonal relationships”, and “sublimation of spirit”. Conclusions: Experiences of healthcare providers in the war can be applied in peacetime and future crisis through broadening their perception of nursing and medicine professions and improving their sense of professionalism.