Abstract
Ethical conflicts among nurses can undermine nurses’ psychological comfort and compromise the quality of patient care. In the last decade, several empirical studies on the phenomena related to ethical conflicts, such as ethical dilemmas, issues, problems, difficulties, or challenges, have been reported; however, they have not always deeply explored the meaning of ethical conflicts experienced by nurses in geriatric care. This study aims to understand the lived experiences of ethical conflict of nurses in geriatric hospitals in South Korea. A phenomenological study was conducted. In-depth, face-to-face interviews were performed with nine registered nurses who cared for elderly patients in geriatric hospitals in South Korea between August 2015 and January 2016. Three main themes emerged from the analysis: (1) confusing values for good nursing, (2) distress resulting from not taking required action despite knowing about a problem, and (3) avoiding ethical conflicts as a last resort. It was found that for geriatric nurses to cope with ethical conflicts successfully, clear ethical guidance, continuing ethics education to improve ethical knowledge and moral behaviors, and a supportive system or program to resolve ethical conflicts involving nurses should be established.
Highlights
Nurses commonly encounter ethical situations that are not always addressed adequately and thereby find themselves in a state of ethical conflict
Nurses engage in more continuous and complex ethical situations related to the unique needs and vulnerability of the elderly [8], ageism [9], end-of-life care [10], or utilizing advances of technology relating to life and death [11] than nurses in any other care settings
This phenomenological study aimed to understand and describe the nature of ethical conflicts experienced by the nurses in geriatric hospitals by using in-depth interviews
Summary
Nurses commonly encounter ethical situations that are not always addressed adequately and thereby find themselves in a state of ethical conflict. Experiencing ethical conflicts can give rise to several types of psychological discomfort for nurses, such as disappointment, helplessness, anger, or outrage, which could worsen difficulties in dealing with ethical conflicts [5,6]; they can impact the quality of patient care [7]. Nurses engage in more continuous and complex ethical situations related to the unique needs and vulnerability of the elderly [8], ageism [9], end-of-life care [10], or utilizing advances of technology relating to life and death [11] than nurses in any other care settings. Providing nursing care for elderly patients is replete with ethical issues because nurses deliberate about value-loaded caring and best practices concerning health, illness, life, and death [12]. Nursing goals are established to promote elderly patients’ physical, emotional, and social needs while at the same time ensuring that the
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