Stories from the Operating Room: moral dilemmas for nurses

This article explores stories related by perioperative nurses when asked to describe ethical judgements and subsequent actions that affected patient outcomes. A total of 214 patient care situations were analysed for moral actions taken and moral outcomes achieved in the perioperative arena. Content...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Killen, Aileen R (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage 2002
In: Nursing ethics
Year: 2002, Volume: 9, Issue: 4, Pages: 405-415
Further subjects:B Morality
B moral outcomes
B moral actions
B perioperative nursing
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:This article explores stories related by perioperative nurses when asked to describe ethical judgements and subsequent actions that affected patient outcomes. A total of 214 patient care situations were analysed for moral actions taken and moral outcomes achieved in the perioperative arena. Content analysis of the patient care situations revealed a wide variety of ethical issues. Concerns about informed consent and quality of care were the most frequently identified issues. Respondents reported that 7% of patients underwent unwanted procedures and that positive moral outcomes were achieved in 65% of situations. It is of concern that, despite the fact that more than two-thirds (69%) of the respondents reported undergoing ethics education, only 27% could relate a story of an ethical situation.
ISSN:1477-0989
Contains:Enthalten in: Nursing ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1191/0969733002ne524oa