Ethical Decision-Making Level of Intensive Care Nurses

Abstract

Aim: A crucial skill for nurses is the understanding of ethics and ethical dilemmas, which enables them to make ethical decisions. This study aimed to assess the ethical decision-making abilities of intensive care nurses employed at a university hospital.
 Materials and Methods: 
 In this descriptive study, the population comprised 265 nurses employed in the hospital's intensive care units. The sample for the study, on the other hand, consisted of 56 intensive care nurses. Data were collected using a “Nurse Information Form” and the “Nursing Dilemma Test”.
 Results: Intensive care nurses scored above the moderate level in Principled Thinking (29.95±10.34) and Practical Considerations (17.79±4.73). The study indicated that these nurses were acquainted with dilemmas similar to those in the Nursing Dilemma Test (15.71±4.47).
 Conclusion: The most common ethical dilemmas faced by intensive care nurses included the conflict between true procedures that should be done and the physician's request, the decision not to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and telling the truth to the patient. It was concluded that intensive care nurses tried to take ethical principles into account when making decisions about ethical dilemmas, but that they did not make use of ethical principles adequately and were affected by environmental factors. To increase intensive care nurses’ level of consideration of ethical principles when they make decisions about ethical dilemmas, it is necessary to determine the ethical dilemmas they encounter and to increase and develop the knowledge and skills of nurses about the ethical decision-making process by supporting ethics education with in-service training.