title: Blowing the whistle to protect a patient: a comparison between physiotherapy students and physiotherapists.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To answer three questions: Are physiotherapists and physiotherapy students willing to take action to prevent misconduct in order to protect a patient's interests? Are they willing to report the misconduct to authorities within an organisation and/or outside of it? Are they willing to report a colleague's wrongdoing as well as that of a manager?
  
  
  METHODS
  Observational questionnaire study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred and twenty-seven participants divided into two groups: 126 undergraduate students at the Department of Physical Therapy at Ben Gurion University, and 101 certified physiotherapists working in hospitals and rehabilitation centres in south and central regions of Israel.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were presented with two vignettes - one describing a colleague's misconduct and the other describing a manager's misconduct - and asked to make a decision about whistleblowing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both groups rated their own willingness to take action to change the harmful situations very highly. The physiotherapists perceived a colleague's misconduct as being more serious than the students, and were more willing to intervene internally. The students were more prepared than the physiotherapists to take such action externally. The students perceived the manager's misconduct as being more serious than the physiotherapists, and also reported a greater readiness to intervene externally.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Physiotherapists consider acts that are detrimental to a patient to be very serious, and are more willing to take action when the offending individual is a colleague. Students are more willing to blow the whistle externally. This article suggests tools for handling similar situations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, POB 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel. mansbach@bgu.ac.il
authors.forename: Abraham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mansbach
authors.forename: Itzik
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Melzer
authors.forename: Yaacov G
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Bachner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010344:Patient Advocacy / Q000523:psychology*; D059825:Physical Therapists / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D028743:Professional Misconduct / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities; D035642:Whistleblowing / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult