Unmet Needs for Clinical Ethics Support Services in Nurse: Based on focus group interviews

Background:As nurses’ ethical competence in their own fields is essential, clinical ethics support services help nurses improve ethical competence.Objectives:The purpose of this study was to identify the unmet needs of ethical support for nurses in clinical settings and explore the differences by nu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nursing ethics
Authors: Kim, Sanghee (Author) ; Seo, Minjeong (Author) ; Kim, Doo Ree (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage 2018
In: Nursing ethics
Further subjects:B Focus Group
B Content Analysis
B clinical ethics support
B ethical competency
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Background:As nurses’ ethical competence in their own fields is essential, clinical ethics support services help nurses improve ethical competence.Objectives:The purpose of this study was to identify the unmet needs of ethical support for nurses in clinical settings and explore the differences by nursing units.Research design:Focus group interview design was applied.Participants and research context:Data were collected via four rounds of focus group interviews with 37 nurses at intensive care units, medical-surgical units, emergency departments and oncology units. Major questions were as follows: ‘What is nurses’ experience of ethical difficulties while working as a clinical nurse?’ and ‘What kinds of clinical ethics support services do nurses require in different clinical settings?’ Inductive content analysis was performed to analyse the data.Ethical considerations:Ethical approval was obtained from the institutional review of board at the College of Nursing.Findings:Five categories (with 14 subcategories) were identified: difficulty providing evidence-based care, lack of support in maintaining patients’ and family members’ dignity, insufficient education regarding clinical ethics, loss of professional self-esteem and expectations concerning organizational support. Nurses’ desire for ethical support varied according to department.Conclusion:Nurses face both practical and existential ethical issues that require rapid solution each day. There is a need for ethical counselling to prevent compassion fatigue and identify means via which nurses reflect on their daily lives in their own fields. In-house training should be provided for each unit, to improve ethical competence and facilitate the development of pragmatic, sensible solutions.
ISSN:1477-0989
Contains:Enthalten in: Nursing ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0969733016654312