Ethical Decision-Making Confidence and Professional Values Among Nurse Leaders.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to describe differences in nurse leaders' ethical decision-making confidence and their professional values based on identified characteristics and to explore the relationship between ethical decision making and professional values. BACKGROUND: Nurse leaders have multiple duties and obligations toward their patients, other staff, and the organizations where they work. However, ethical decisions can be complex, requiring the guidance of professional values and critical appraisal of the situation. METHODS: This study was conducted using a correlational design. Convenience sampling was used, resulting in a sample of 56 nurse leaders in various positions. RESULT: Ethical decision making and professional values were found to be strongly correlated. CONCLUSION: Ethical decision making and professional values are highly correlated in this sample. Understanding the importance of the effects of certain factors on ethical decision making can assist in forming an environment supportive of ethical practices for nurses.

How nurses perceive the gap between knowledge and practice.

BACKGROUND: Identifying nurses' perceptions of the knowledge-practice gap is a critical step toward developing evidence-based practice. Currently, multiple factors contribute to the gap between nursing education and actual practice. Addressing this gap requires a new perspective, not yet adequately represented in the literature, that includes nurses' perceptions. AIM: This study aims to describe nurses' perceptions of the knowledge-practice gap in the domains of knowledge, practice, environment, and learning. And it analyzes how nurses' professional characteristics are associated with their perceptions of the gap in each of these domains as well as the relationships between the domains themselves. METHODS: The study used a cross-sectional descriptive correlational design. A sample of 513 staff nurses recruited through a convenience sampling technique provided information on professional variables such as education and experience and completed a Likert-scale survey about their perceptions of the knowledge-practice gap. RESULTS: Their answers were found to vary with educational level and history of workshop attendance. Items from the knowledge domain were positively and significantly correlated with items from the environment and learning domains, which were also positively and significantly correlated with each other. However, the knowledge and practice domains were not significantly correlated. In addition to showing correlations among the major domains (or aspects) of the knowledge-practice gap, the study highlights how nurses' professional characteristics contribute to differences in their perceptions of this gap. CONCLUSION: These findings can guide hospital-specific measures for bridging the gap. In addition, the scale can be employed by leaders as a tool for the purpose of conducting assessments.