REGISTERED AND ENROLLED NURSES’ EXPERIENCES OF ETHICAL ISSUES IN NURSING PRACTICE
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Keywords
ethics, human rights, ethical issues, nursing
Abstract
Research aims: To explore and describe registered and enrolled nurses’ experiences of ethics and human rights issues in nursing practice in the Australian State of Victoria.
Method: Descriptive survey of 398 Victorian nurses using the Ethical Issues Scale (EIS) survey questionnaire.
Major findings: The most frequent and most disturbing ethical issues reported by the nurses surveyed included: protecting patients’ rights and human dignity, providing care with possible risk to their own health, informed consent, staffing patterns that limited patient access to nursing care, the use of physical/chemical restraints, prolonging the dying process with inappropriate measures, working with unethical/impaired colleagues, caring for patients/families who are misinformed, not considering a patient’s quality of life, poor working conditions.
Conclusions: Nurses in Victoria frequently experience disturbing ethical issues in nursing practice that warrant focussed attention by health service managers, educators and policy makers.
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Professor Megan-Jane Johnstone, PhD, BA, RN, FRCNA, FCN(NSW)
Professor of Nursing and Director of Research, Division of Nursing and Midwifery, RMIT University, Victoria, Australia
Associate Professor Cliff Da Costa, PhD, EdS, MSc,
School of Mathematical and Geospatial Sciences, RMIT University, Victoria, Australia
Dr Sue Turale, DEd, MNursSt, BAppSci, DAppSci, RN, FRCNA, FANZCMHN,
Director of Nursing, Medea Park Residential Care, St Helens, Tasmania, Australia