Ethics is the application of values and moral rules that govern human choices.1 Physical Therapists(PTs) are expected to not only have skills and knowledge relevant to their field but are also expected to practice within the ethical and legal expectations that are established by The American Physical Therapy Association(APTA).1 Principle 8A of the Code of Ethics for the Physical Therapist established by the APTA states that “Physical Therapists shall provide pro-bono physical therapy services or support organizations that meet the health needs of people who are economically disadvantaged, uninsured, and underinsured”.2 In the guidelines for pro-bono physical therapy services, the APTA states that PTs “may discharge this responsibility by: …show more content…
The long-term goal of this study is to elicit ethical conversations among physical therapy businesses and PTs, so that our profession can grow towards an overall better ethical climate across the state and country. This study will survey the ethical perceptions of physical therapists on their workplaces and to determine if there is a relationship between the provision of pro-bono services and physical therapists’ perception of ethical work environment. Often, the prevailing ethical work climate in an organization is determined by analyzing ethical choices made by individuals in that organization. …show more content…
This study hopes to correlate ethical choices to overall ethical work climate and support that there is a relationship between the perceptions of an ethical workplaces and ethical workplace choices. This study will aid future studies to identify areas of ethical dilemmas in physical therapy and identify ethical dilemmas PTs deal with within their workplaces. The second aim is to determine to what extent physical therapy pro-bono services are being offered in the area in and around the Gainesville Georgia geographical region. In the conduction of our surveys we will include questions to determine locations of the pro-bono services rendered as defined previously by the APTA. This will provide evidence to the number of pro-bono services compared to total number of PTs surveyed. The impact of this information can change how PTs are ethically perceived as a profession in Gainesville,