Ethical issues of work experience.
An article appeared in this journal some months ago in which a sixteen year old described her 'work experience' in the operating department. In this instance it was a well planned, well supported experience. It is an increasingly common experience for managers to be asked to allow sixteen year olds to gain work experience in an area in which the young person has expressed an interest for a future career. Many people may have felt, following this confident and amusing article, that their concerns were unjustified. However, Angela Devine, in a letter published in the January 1994 issue raised some ethical questions and suggested that allowing sixteen year olds into the operating department during surgery could violate the provider/client relationship in which we stand to our patients.
Hewetson
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D000293:Adolescent; D002321:Career Choice; D004651:Employment; D004993:Ethics, Nursing; D006801:Humans; D009871:Operating Room Nursing; D013334:Students