Ethical Conflicts Experienced by Nurses in Geriatric Hospitals in South Korea: "If You Can't Stand the Heat, Get Out of the Kitchen".
Int J Environ Res Public Health
; 17(12)2020 06 20.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32575765
ABSTRACT
Ethical conflicts among nurses can undermine nurses' psychological comfort and compromise the quality of patient care. In the last decade, several empirical studies on the phenomena related to ethical conflicts, such as ethical dilemmas, issues, problems, difficulties, or challenges, have been reported; however, they have not always deeply explored the meaning of ethical conflicts experienced by nurses in geriatric care. This study aims to understand the lived experiences of ethical conflict of nurses in geriatric hospitals in South Korea. A phenomenological study was conducted. In-depth, face-to-face interviews were performed with nine registered nurses who cared for elderly patients in geriatric hospitals in South Korea between August 2015 and January 2016. Three main themes emerged from the analysis:
(1) confusing values for good nursing, (2) distress resulting from not taking required action despite knowing about a problem, and (3) avoiding ethical conflicts as a last resort. It was found that for geriatric nurses to cope with ethical conflicts successfully, clear ethical guidance, continuing ethics education to improve ethical knowledge and moral behaviors, and a supportive system or program to resolve ethical conflicts involving nurses should be established.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Geriatric Nursing
/
Nursing Staff, Hospital
Type of study:
Qualitative_research
Aspects:
Ethics
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
En
Journal:
Int J Environ Res Public Health
Year:
2020
Document type:
Article