Ethical Considerations for Acutely Injured and Future Burn Patients Who Smoke While on Home Oxygen Therapy.

Home oxygen therapy (HOT) is prescribed to patients with pulmonary dysfunction to improve survival and quality of life. However, ignition of oxygen can lead to burns with significant morbidity and mortality. Providers who routinely treat this patient population face an ethical issue: balancing the obligation to provide beneficial treatment to a patient with the responsibility to protect that patient from suffering avoidable burn injuries. A thorough review was conducted to assess the literature regarding ethical considerations involved in managing patients who have been burned while smoking on HOT and who continue to smoke. Various aspects of this problem and potential approaches to address it were analyzed with respect to 4 core ethical principles of health care: beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, and justice. For patients who repeatedly present with burns acquired secondary to smoking while on oxygen, the authors consider it ethically unacceptable to withhold standard-of-care intervention for acute burns because refusal to treat acute burns conflicts with all 4 ethical principles. A preventive strategy would encourage a more judicious prescription of HOT, supporting the principles of nonmaleficence and beneficence. Additional preventive strategies include upstream solutions such as longitudinal patient education about smoking cessation and the risks of smoking on HOT. Physicians are tasked with the responsibility of both providing optimal care for this patient population and preventing future burn injuries. They may be able to address this challenging situation by thinking more critically about potential solutions while bearing in mind key ethical considerations and obligations.

Home-Based Telemental Health: A Proposed Privacy and Safety Protocol and Tool.

Objectives: To describe the development of a protocol and practical tool for the safe delivery of telemental health (TMH) services to the home. The COVID-19 pandemic forced providers to rapidly transition their outpatient practices to home-based TMH (HB-TMH) without existing protocols or tools to guide them. This experience underscored the need for a standardized privacy and safety tool as HB-TMH is expected to continue as a resource during future crises as well as to become a component of the routine mental health care landscape. Methods: The authors represent a subset of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Telemental Health Consortium. They met weekly through videoconferencing to review published safety standards of care, existing TMH guidelines for clinic-based and home-based services, and their own institutional protocols. They agreed on three domains foundational to the delivery of HB-TMH: environmental safety, clinical safety, and disposition planning. Through multiple iterations, they agreed upon a final Privacy and Safety Protocol for HB-TMH. The protocol was then operationalized into the Privacy and Safety Assessment Tool (PSA Tool) based on two keystone medical safety constructs: the World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist/Time-Out and the Checklist Manifesto.Results: The PSA Tool comprised four modules: (1) Screening for Safety for HB-TMH; (2) Assessment for Safety During the HB-TMH Initial Visit; (3) End of the Initial Visit and Disposition Planning; and (4) the TMH Time-Out and Reassessment during subsequent visits. A sample workflow guides implementation. Conclusions: The Privacy and Safety Protocol and PSA Tool aim to prepare providers for the private and safe delivery of HB-TMH. Its modular format can be adapted to each site's resources. Going forward, the PSA Tool should help to facilitate the integration of HB-TMH into the routine mental health care landscape.

Ethical sensitivity and perceptiveness in palliative home care through co-creation.

BACKGROUND: In research on co-creation in nursing, a caring manner can be used to create opportunities whereby the patient's quality of life can be increased in palliative home care. This can be described as an ethical cornerstone and the goal of palliative care. To promote quality of life, nurses must be sensitive to patients' and their relatives' needs in care encounters. Co-creation can be defined as the joint creation of vital goals for patients through the process of shared knowledge between nurses, patients and their relatives. AIM: The aim of this study was to explore nurses' experiences of caring encounters and co-creation in palliative home care from an ethical perspective. RESEARCH DESIGN, PARTICIPANTS, AND RESEARCH CONTEXT: A hermeneutical approach was used. The material consisted of texts from interviews with 12 nurses in a home care context. The method was inspired by thematic analysis. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: Informed consent was sought from the participants regarding study participation and the storage and handling of data for research purposes. FINDINGS: An overall theme, a main theme and four sub-themes emerged. Through ethical sensitivity and perceptivity, nurses can balance their actions in the moment and change their nursing care actions according to the patient's wishes through co-creation in encounters. Here the time is crucial, as the time needed is unique to each patient. DISCUSSION: The themes together can be considered prerequisites for good palliative home care. If nurses fail to be sensitive and perceptive in encounters with dying patients, good palliative home care cannot be achieved. Ethical sensitivity and perceptiveness can also be considered a part of nurses' ethical competence. CONCLUSION: Patients' dignity can be preserved through ethical sensitivity and perceptiveness, which is fundamental for good palliative care. Co-creation from patients' perspectives should be the focus of future research.

A gap between the philosophy and the practice of palliative healthcare: sociological perspectives on the practice of nurses in specialised palliative homecare.

Palliative care philosophy is based on a holistic approach to patients, but research shows that possibilities for living up to this philosophy seem limited by historical and administrative structures. From the nurse perspective, this article aims to explore nursing practice in specialised palliative homecare, and how it is influenced by organisational and cultural structures. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews with nine nurses were conducted, inspired by Bourdieu. The findings showed that nurses consolidate the doxa of medicine, including medical-professional values that configure a control-oriented, positivistic approach, supported by the organising policy for clinical practice. Hierarchically, nurses were positioned under doctors: medical rounds functioned as a structuring structure for their working day. They acted as medical assistants, and the prevailing medical logic seemed to make it difficult for nurses to meet their own humanistic ideals. Only short time slots allowed nurses to prioritise psychosocial needs of patients and relatives. Point-of-actions had high priority, added financial resources and ensured that budgets were allocated. Weekly visits made it possible for nurses to measure, control and govern patients' drugs and symptoms which was a necessity for their function as medical assistants. The findings challenge nurses to take on an ethical point of view, partly to ensure that patients and their families receive good palliative care focusing on more than medical issues and logic, and partly to strengthen the nurses' profession in the palliative field and help them implement palliative care philosophy in practice.

AN INTEGRATED PERSPECTIVE ON THE ASSESSMENT OF TECHNOLOGIES: INTEGRATE-HTA.

OBJECTIVES: Current health technology assessment (HTA) is not well equipped to assess complex technologies as insufficient attention is being paid to the diversity in patient characteristics and preferences, context, and implementation. Strategies to integrate these and several other aspects, such as ethical considerations, in a comprehensive assessment are missing. The aim of the European research project INTEGRATE-HTA was to develop a model for an integrated HTA of complex technologies. METHODS: A multi-method, four-stage approach guided the development of the INTEGRATE-HTA Model: (i) definition of the different dimensions of information to be integrated, (ii) literature review of existing methods for integration, (iii) adjustment of concepts and methods for assessing distinct aspects of complex technologies in the frame of an integrated process, and (iv) application of the model in a case study and subsequent revisions. RESULTS: The INTEGRATE-HTA Model consists of five steps, each involving stakeholders: (i) definition of the technology and the objective of the HTA; (ii) development of a logic model to provide a structured overview of the technology and the system in which it is embedded; (iii) evidence assessment on effectiveness, economic, ethical, legal, and socio-cultural aspects, taking variability of participants, context, implementation issues, and their interactions into account; (iv) populating the logic model with the data generated in step 3; (v) structured process of decision-making. CONCLUSIONS: The INTEGRATE-HTA Model provides a structured process for integrated HTAs of complex technologies. Stakeholder involvement in all steps is essential as a means of ensuring relevance and meaningful interpretation of the evidence.

[Neonatal palliative care at home: Contribution of the regional pediatric palliative care team]. / Soins palliatifs néonatals à domicile : apport des équipes régionales de soins palliatifs pédiatriques.

The "patients' rights and end-of-life care" act, known as the Leonetti law, has allowed implementation of palliative care in neonatology as an alternative to unreasonable therapeutic interventions. A palliative care project can be offered to newborns suffering from intractable diseases. It must be focused on the newborn's quality of life and comfort and on family support. Palliative care for newborns can be provided in the delivery room, in the neonatal unit, and also at home. Going home is possible but requires medical support. Here we describe the potential benefits of the intervention of a regional team of pediatric palliative care for newborns, both in the hospital and at home. Two clinical situations of palliative care at home started in the neonatal period and the neonatal unit are presented. They are completed by a retrospective national survey focusing on the type of support to newborns in palliative care in 2014, which was conducted in 22 French regional pediatric palliative care teams. It shows that 26 newborns benefited from this support at home in 2014. Sixteen infants were born after a pregnancy with a palliative care birth plan and ten entered palliative care after a decision to limit life-sustaining treatments. Twelve of them returned home before the 20th day of life. Sixteen infants died, six of them at home. The regional pediatric palliative care team first receives in-hospital interventions: providing support for ethical reflection in the development of the infant's life project, meeting with the child and its family, helping organize the care pathway to return home. When the child is at home, the regional pediatric palliative care team can support the caregiver involved, provide home visits to continue the clinical monitoring of the infant, and accompany the family. The follow-up of the bereavement and the analysis of the practices with caregivers are also part of its tasks.

[What you can do when dealing with emergencies in the dementia setting]. / Notfälle bei Demenz - was Sie tun können.

Frequent emergencies in patients with dementia include aggressiveness, screaming, day/night reversal, other behavioral disorders, and falls. They are often caused by delirium, especially if there has been a rapid change in the patient's state of health. Hypoactive delirium in particular is difficult to recognize in the dementia setting. Acute somatic diseases bear a different meaning in dementia than in non-dementia patients, and priorities must be given to the impaired cerebral performance. In addition to medical decisions, ethical ones need to be made. Special attention should be paid to the resources of the caregiver network. This article describes both non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatment modalities when dealing with emergencies in dementia patients.

[Suicidal drug overdose while receiving palliative home care: a case report]. / Suizid durch Intoxikation während einer mobilen palliativen Begleitung eines Patienten mit Bronchuskarzinom.

Suicidal thoughts are a common phenomenon in palliative care which can be seen in around 10% of the patients. There is very little knowledge about attempted and committed suicide. This article is a case report about a patient with lung cancer in a terminal state of illness who ingested drugs in a toxic dose while receiving palliative home care. This article deals with ethical issues in medical treatment and various ways of decision-making.

Patient- and clinic visit-related factors associated with potentially inappropriate medication use among older home healthcare service recipients.

OBJECTIVES: Taiwanese National Health Insurance (TNHI) provides home healthcare services to patients with skilled nursing needs who were homebound or lived in nursing homes. Studies on potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) for older home healthcare service recipients (HHSRs) are growing, but comparisons among newer criteria of PIMs have not been applied. The aim of this study was to explore the prevalence and correlates of PIMs based on three different instruments published after 2010 among older HHSRs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed cross-sectional analysis of the TNHI Research Database. A total of 25,187 HHSRs aged more than 65 years in 2009 were included. Medication lists independent of chronic conditions from the 2012 Beers criteria, PIM-Taiwan criteria, and the PRISCUS (Latin for "old and venerable") criteria were used. Analysis was performed separately at patient and clinic-visit level. T-tests, chi-square analysis, and multivariate logistic regressions were used where appropriate. RESULTS: The prevalence of having at least one PIM at patient and clinic-visit level was highest with the Beers (82.67%, 36.14% respectively), followed by the PRISCUS (68.49%, 25.13%) and PIM-Taiwan (63.04%, 19.21%) criteria. At patient level, polypharmacy (odds ratio (OR) 2.53 to 4.90), higher number of clinic (OR 1.15 to 1.41), hospital (OR 1.24 to 1.64), and physician (OR 1.15 to 1.41) visits were associated with PIM use for all 3 sets of criteria. At clinic-visit level, internist/family physicians (OR 1.26 to 1.72) and neurologists/psychiatrists (OR 1.73 to 5.87) were more likely to prescribe PIMs than others. Psychotropic drugs and first generation antihistamines accounted for most of the top ten PIMs. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of PIMs was high among older Taiwanese HHSRs. Polypharmacy and certain medical specialties were associated with a higher likelihood of PIM prescriptions. Provider education and medication review and reconciliation should be considered.

[Informed consent to the insertion of a PEG tube in a 53-year-old male patient with highly advanced dementia]. / Aufklärung und Einwilligung zur Anlage einer PEG Sonde bei einem 53 jährigen Patienten mit fortgeschrittener Demenz.

In patients with advanced dementia and dysphagia, regular fluid- and food intake together with oral medication can be guaranteed by insertion of a PEG tube. Consent to a treatment in a patient without legal capacity requires nomination of a legal substitute by an Austrian court. The following case report describes the problems associated with this particular situation exposing additional psychosocial stress to closest relatives and to the palliative care team in charge for the patient. This case report describes the legal options together with the finally chosen path of medical treatment which in clinical praxis may not always match.

How do medical device manufacturers' websites frame the value of health innovation? An empirical ethics analysis of five Canadian innovations.

While every health care system stakeholder would seem to be concerned with obtaining the greatest value from a given technology, there is often a disconnect in the perception of value between a technology's promoters and those responsible for the ultimate decision as to whether or not to pay for it. Adopting an empirical ethics approach, this paper examines how five Canadian medical device manufacturers, via their websites, frame the corporate "value proposition" of their innovation and seek to respond to what they consider the key expectations of their customers. Our analysis shows that the manufacturers' framing strategies combine claims that relate to valuable socio-technical goals and features such as prevention, efficiency, sense of security, real-time feedback, ease of use and flexibility, all elements that likely resonate with a large spectrum of health care system stakeholders. The websites do not describe, however, how the innovations may impact health care delivery and tend to obfuscate the decisional trade-offs these innovations represent from a health care system perspective. Such framing strategies, we argue, tend to bolster physicians' and patients' expectations and provide a large set of stakeholders with powerful rhetorical tools that may influence the health policy arena. Because these strategies are difficult to counter given the paucity of evidence and its limited use in policymaking, establishing sound collective health care priorities will require solid critiques of how certain kinds of medical devices may provide a better (i.e., more valuable) response to health care needs when compared to others.

Eficacia de las intervenciones de enfermería mediante un programa para el cuidado en el hogar / Effectiveness of the nursing interventions by means of a program for home care

El objetivo del estudio fue evaluar la eficacia de las intervenciones de enfermería en personas con enfermedad crónica y sus cuidadores, dadas mediante el programa Preparación y Apoyo para el Cuidado en el Hogar. Estudio cuasiexperimental. Se valoraron las etiquetas de resultado Conocimiento: proceso de la enfermedad, Conocimiento: régimen terapéutico, Preparación del cuidador familiar domiciliario, Bienestar del cuidador principal. Los participantes se asignaron a tres grupos. El primer grupo recibió preparación para el alta, el segundo grupo recibió preparación para el alta e intervención telefónica y el tercer grupo recibió además de lo anterior, una visita en su domicilio. Tras la intervención se encontró diferencias de 0.55 y 0.20 en el CRE final de la etiqueta Conocimiento Proceso de la Enfermedad de las personas del segundo y tercer grupo, respectivamente. Se encontró que las intervenciones de enfermería dadas mediante el programa son eficaces para las personas con enfermedad crónica y sus cuidadores familiares(AU)

The objective of present study was to assess the effectiveness of nursing interventions in persons presenting with a chronic disease and their carers according to the Training and Support Program for Home Care. Present study was quasi-experimental. The following labels were assessed: Knowledge result: disease course, Knowledge: therapeutic regimen, Training of family carer at home, Wellbeing of main carer. The participants were randomized to three groups. The first group received training related to discharge, the second one received training for the discharge and telephone intervention and the third one received also of above mentioned trainings, a visit in its home. After intervention there were differences of 0.55 and 0.20 in the final CRE of the Knowledge label of Disease Course of the persons of second and third group, respectively. We found that the nursing interventions applied by means of the program are effective for the persons presenting with a chronic diseases and their family carers(AU)

Cancer in home care: unintended weight loss and ethical challenges. A cross-sectional study of older people at 11 sites in Europe.

The aim of this study was to compare unintended weight loss in cancer patients to other elderly. Home care users, aged ≥65 from urban areas at 11 sites in Europe (N=4010) were assessed with the Resident Assessment Instrument for Home Care. Epidemiological and medical characteristics of clients and service utilization were recorded. A total of 321 (8%) patients had a cancer diagnosis; they were on average 80.4±7.3 years. Socio-demographic, functional and clinical parameters revealed small variations in the two groups. Compared to the non-cancer group, they more frequently suffered from: severe malnutrition (odds ratio=OR=2.4) unintended weight loss (OR=2.0), had been hospitalized during the last 6 months (OR=1.8). Older patients with cancer suffer more frequently from problems associated with nutrition than non-cancer patients. A comprehensive assessment could lead to better management of food and fluid supply based on basic ethical principles.

Internação domiciliar: o perfil dos pacientes assistidos pelo Programa HU em Casa / Home care: profile of patients attended by a home care program

Internação domiciliar é uma modalidade de atendimento à saúde que está se transformando em uma alternativa importante para minimizar alguns dos principais problemas inerentes aos sistemas de saúde vigentes, especialmente os da rede pública. O objetivo do estudo foi descrever o perfil sociodemográfico e clínico da população assistida pelo Programa de Internação Domiciliar (PID) HU em Casa do Hospital Universitário Clemente de Faria da Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros. O estudo foi descritivo e retrospectivo por meio da análise de prontuários, realizada de maio de 2005 a maio de 2008. Foram analisados 137 pacientes, sendo 75 do gênero feminino (54,7 por cento) e 62 do masculino (45,3 por cento). O grupo de 61 a 80 anos foi mais prevalente (37,2 por cento) e 73 por cento dos pacientes residiam em bairros periféricos do município de Montes Claros-MG. Dos agravos mais comuns na primeira internação, a pneumonia foi prevalente, 22 casos (16,1 por cento). A maioria dos pacientes foi encaminhada ao PID pela clinica médica (84,7 por cento), com intervalo de maior prevalência de duas a três internações (42,4 por cento). Do total de pacientes, 120 (87,6 por cento) permaneceram internados por 16 a 30 dias e 51,8 por cento não necessitaram passar novamente pelo PID para uma segunda internação. Com relação à resolutividade clínica, 130 (94,9 por cento) tiveram alta clínica, no PID, na primeira internação. O PID mostrou-se ser um programa de alta resolutividade, atendendo mais ao público idoso feminino, de baixa renda e com períodos de internação relativamente curtos.

The home care is a modality of health care which is becoming an important alternative to minimize some of mainly relevant problems of world health, especially the public health network. This paper aimed to describe the socio-demographic and clinical population assisted by the Home Care Program HU em Casa, of the University Hospital Clemente de Faria, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros. It is a descriptive and retrospective study analyzing medical records from May 2005 to May 2008. Of the 137 analyzed patients, 75 were females (54.7 percent) and 62 males (45.3 percent). Concerning age, the 61-80 year group was the most prevalent (37.2 percent) and 73 percent lived and was attended in the peripheral districts of Montes Claros city. Among the most important diseases in the first admission, the most prevalent was pneumonia (22 cases, 16.1 percent). Most patients were referred to the HU em Casa Home Care Program for the medical clinic (84.7 percent) with a range of higher prevalence of 2 to 3 admissions (42.4 percent). Of the total patients, 120 (87.6 percent) stayed in hospital for 16 to 30 days. Referring to resolutivity, 130 (94.9 percent) patients were discharged to the program on the first admission. The PID proved to be a high-solving program, attended mainly elderly women with low income and with periods of relatively short hospitalization.

A práxis da Saúde Mental no âmbito da Estratégia Saúde da Família: contribuições para a construção de um cuidado integrado / Mental Health Praxis within the Family Health Strategy: contributions to build an integrated care

Este artigo, originado de um estudo quali-quantitativo, buscou analisar as práticas de Saúde Mental na atuação das equipes da Estratégia Saúde da Família de Brazlândia, no Distrito Federal, quanto a seus potenciais e limites para o cuidado integral aos sujeitos em situações de sofrimento mental na atenção primária. Foram realizadas entrevistas com os profissionais da ESF que participaram de capacitação em Saúde Mental. Para análise do material empírico, utilizou-se a técnica do Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo. Os resultados evidenciaram que a população encontra dificuldade de acesso ao cuidado em Saúde Mental, por não haver uma rede de apoio estruturada. Verificou-se baixa capacidade de resolutividade no âmbito da Saúde da Família, uma vez que as ações desenvolvidas privilegiam consultas ambulatoriais médicas e encaminhamentos para internações, o que evidencia tanto a concepção biomédica ainda hegemônica nas práticas, quanto a desarticulação de uma rede para a garantia do cuidado integral. Esses resultados remetem também ao debate da qualificação das equipes da ESF em saúde mental, de modo que efetivamente reconheçam e usufruam da potencialidade do vínculo estabelecido entre equipe e usuários/famílias.

This paper, originated in a quali-quantitative study, attempted to analyze the practices of Mental Health in Family Health Strategy teams from Brazlândia, Federal District, Brazil, concerning their potential and limits for delivering integral care to people with mental distresses in primary care. Interviews were conducted with the professionals who were trained in Mental Health. The analysis employed the method of the Discourse of the Collective Subject. The results showed that the population has limited access to mental health care, due to the lack of structured support network. There was also low capacity to solve mental health problems in the context of FHS, since the actions developed emphasize outpatient appointments and referrals to medical admissions in hospitals, what shows both the still hegemonic biomedical conception in the practices, as the dismantling of a network to ensure integral care. These results lead to the debate of qualifications of the FHS teams in mental health, in order to recognize and enjoy the potential of the bond established between teams and users/families.

Ethical openings in palliative home care practice.

Understanding how a nurse acts in a particular situation reveals how nurses enact their ethics in day-to-day nursing. Our ethical frameworks assist us when we experience serious ethical dilemmas. Yet how a nurse responds in situations of daily practice is contingent upon all the presenting cues that build the current moment. In this article, we look at how a home care nurse responds to the ethical opening that arises when the nurse enters a person's home. We discuss how the home presents the nurse with knowledge that informs the provision of ethical nursing care. The analysis is based on findings from an interpretive research study in palliative home care in Canada. Through interpretive analysis of a nursing situation we delineate how the nurse engages with the whole and acts inside the moment. The analysis shows how home care nurses are ethically determined to engage with whatever is going on in a patient's home.

Community nurses' experiences of ethical dilemmas in palliative care: a Swedish study.

AIM: The aim of this study was to highlight community nurses' experiences of ethical dilemmas in palliative care. BACKGROUND: There are many studies on palliative care but research on how community nurses experience ethical dilemmas in palliative home care is lacking. The ethical dilemmas to which these nurses are exposed seriously challenge their ethical competence. METHOD: Seven community nurses described their experiences of ethical dilemmas in palliative home care. The data was analysed by means of qualitative content analysis. FINDINGS: The core themes that emerged were: powerlessness, frustration, and concern in relation to ethical dilemmas in palliative care. The nurses were motivated and felt responsibility for their patients' end of life, and their relatives, and took their duties seriously. They wanted to satisfy all parties; the patient, the relatives and other palliative care professionals. CONCLUSION: The study confirms the need for knowledge about how community nurses experience dilemmas in ethical decision-making. They have the freedom to act and the willingness to make decisions, but they lack competence and knowledge about how their colleagues' experience and deal with such issues.

Home-based palliative care: challenges in the care of technology-dependent children.

OBJECTIVES: To conceptualize palliative care and its indications in Pediatrics; to describe the difficulties involved in the delivery of such care at home for technology-dependent children; and to analyze, from a bioethical perspective, the moral dilemmas of palliative care assistance. SOURCES: A literature review of palliative care for technology-dependent children and a bioethical analysis of moral dilemmas. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS: There are several obstacles to palliative care for technology-dependent children: structural difficulties at home; social isolation of both children and families; health professionals' sense of disbelief regarding this type of care; an excessive number of medical devices at home; uncertainty of a terminal prognosis; physical, emotional, social, material, and financial burden for parents and family; changes in family dynamics to adjust to these children; paternalistic relationship between professionals and family; changes in family roles, with shifts in the caregiver role. CONCLUSIONS: It is essential to outline an agenda based on the premise that the medical apparatus for technology-dependent children will change the landscape of the home, and such a change might become a problem to be faced by all those living together. Based on this assumption, actions performed in a setting other than a health care facility might exert an actual protective effect on children and family, offering support in their several needs and developing a model of care delivery that includes interventions in the different levels of burden on these vulnerated and unprotected individuals.

A phenomenological study of nurses' understanding of honesty in palliative care.

Honesty is essential for the care of seriously ill and dying patients. The current study aimed to describe how nurses experience honesty in their work with patients receiving palliative care at home. The interviews in this phenomenological study were conducted with 16 nurses working with children and adults in palliative home-based care. Three categories emerged from analyses of the interviews: the meaning of honesty, the reason for being honest and, finally, moral conflict when dealing with honesty. The essence of these descriptions was that honesty is seen as a virtue, a good quality that a nurse should have. The nurses' ethical standpoint was shown in the moral character they show in their work and in their intention to do good. This study could help nurses to identify different ways of looking at honesty to promote more consciousness and openness in ethical discussions between colleagues and other staff members.

[Moral problems in home health care--a descriptive ethical study]. / Moralische Probleme in der ambulanten Pflege - Eine deskriptive pflegeethische Untersuchung.

In Germany there is an increasing importance of home health care and nurses that are employed in the home care sector often have to face ethical issues. The purpose of this ethnographic study was to explore moral problems in the daily practice of these nurses. The method used was qualitative interviews with 20 nurses which have been analysed by content analysis. The results showed that the ethical principle of beneficence was the core concept for the participants. Moral problems arise when nurses cannot act in accordance to this principle or when they cannot determine the good in a situation. In particular, there were four types of moral problems: "beneficence vs. autonomy", "beneficence vs. justice", "beneficence vs. loyalty" and "The good cannot be determined". The way nurses in home health care address moral problems should be improved. Some participants lack ethical competencies. Furthermore, appropriate support services for dealing with moral problems have to be designed.