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Ethical issues encountered by nurses

University of British Columbia

The purpose of this study was to describe the nature of ethical issues encountered by nurses working on medical/surgical nursing units and the degree to which they found these issues disturbing. Relationships among demographic variables and nurses’ experience with specific ethical issues were also examined. A survey of a stratified random sample of 400 Registered Nurses in British Columbia working on medical/surgical nursing units was completed. The “Survey of Ethical Issues in Nursing - Revised” (SEIN - R) and a demographic form were mailed to each participant. Two hundred and two questionnaires (50.5%) were returned and 196 (49%) used in the analysis. The findings indicate that nurses perceive that they “rarely” encountered ethical issues as identified in the instrument. The five most frequently encountered ethical issues that nurses reported were: (1) unsafe staffing patterns, (2) family demands for futile treatment, (3) prolongation of life when death was inevitable, (4) unprofessional conduct of a colleague, and (5) disagreements with physicians over patient care. Overall, nurses reported being at least “somewhat” disturbed about the ethical issues they encountered or would have become so if they had encountered these situations in the practice setting. When asked to identify how disturbed they were or would be by the 26 ethical issues included in the SEIN - R, the five most disturbing issues were: (1) working with physicians who demonstrated inadequate knowledge and skills, (2) unsafe staffing patterns, (3) prolongation of life when death was inevitable, (4) caring for a patient whose family was demanding futile treatment, and (5) knowing that information about a patient’s prognosis was being withheld from the patient and/or family. The findings also suggest that a number of statistically significant but weak relationships exist between the five most frequent and the five most disturbing ethical issues, and select demographics. The most common resource nurses use when addressing ethical issues is their nursing colleagues. Relatively few nurses used their Canadian Nurses Association Code of Ethics for Nursing to guide them in their ethical decision-making; more used the Registered Nurses Association of British Columbia Standards for Nursing Practice.

Thesis/Dissertation

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2009-03-02

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/5351

Nursing

University of British Columbia

UBCV

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