فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

BACKGROUND: Discrimination in health care is a common phenomenon whose completeunderstanding has always been a major concern of health-care systems to control and reduce it.This study aimed to explore the experiences of unintentional discrimination and related factors inhealth-care providers.MATERIALS AND METHODS: This qualitative study was conducted with a content analysis approachin 2019. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 13 health-care providers includingtwo physicians, three nursing supervisors, two head nurses, four staff nurses, and two nurse aidesin two general hospitals in Tehran, Iran. Participants were selected through purposeful sampling.The obtained data were analyzed by Graneheim and Lundman method.RESULTS: Three main categories and eight subcategories were obtained from the dataanalysis: (1) forced discrimination (superiors’ pressures and executive orders, occupational concerns,and fear of the superiors); (2) guided discrimination (professional challenges, managers’ policymaking,and lack of medical ethics knowledge); and (3) lack of resources (workforce shortage and lack ofmedical equipment).CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that health-care providers such as doctors andnurses are unintentionally forced to provide discriminatory care on some occasions. Knowing andmanaging these unwanted factors can partly counteract unintentional discrimination. Thus, preventingthe factors that lead to superiors’ pressures and occupational forces and improving the medical ethicsknowledge should be considered by health-care managers.