Moral Problems Among Dutch Nurses: a survey

This article reports on a survey of the moral problems that Dutch nurses experience during their everyday practice. A questionnaire was developed, based on published literature, panel discussions, in-depth interviews and participation observations. The instrument was tested in a pilot study and prov...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: van der Arend, Arie JG (Author)
Contributors: Remmers-van den Hurk, Corine HM
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 1999
In: Nursing ethics
Year: 1999, Volume: 6, Issue: 6, Pages: 468-482
Further subjects:B Nursing Ethics
B descriptive ethics
B nursing research
B moral problems
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:This article reports on a survey of the moral problems that Dutch nurses experience during their everyday practice. A questionnaire was developed, based on published literature, panel discussions, in-depth interviews and participation observations. The instrument was tested in a pilot study and proved to be useful. A total of 2122 questionnaires were sent to 91 institutions in seven different health care settings. The results showed that nurses were not experiencing important societal issues such as abortion and euthanasia as morally the most problematic, but rather situations such as verbally aggressive behaviour of colleagues towards patients, keeping silent about errors, and medical treatment given against the wishes of patients. Moral problems occurred especially when nurses experienced feelings of powerlessness with regard to the well-being of patients. Moreover, these moral problems proved to be related to institutional organization, leadership, and collaboration with colleagues and other disciplines. Nurses appeared to have a limited awareness of the moral dimensions of their practice.
ISSN:1477-0989
Contains:Enthalten in: Nursing ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/096973309900600603