Ethics in nursing homes: experience and casuistry

Area of Science:

• Nursing Ethics
• Geriatric Care
• Qualitative Research

Background:

• Ethically challenging situations are prevalent in nursing home care.
• Nurses require effective strategies to manage complex ethical dilemmas.
• Existing models may not fully address the practical needs of nursing staff.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore nurses' methods for resolving ethically difficult care situations in nursing homes.
• To present a practical model for nursing practice in these challenging scenarios.
• To enhance ethical decision-making in aged care.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study involving observation and interviews with 14 nurses across three Norwegian nursing homes.
• Grounded theory approach using constant comparative analysis.
• Exploration of nurses' strategies for managing ethically difficult care situations.

Main Results:

• Nurses primarily rely on applying past experiences to strive for optimal elderly patient outcomes.
• A principal strategy identified involves leveraging experiential knowledge.
• The study identified a gap in systematically integrating experience with ethical theory.

Conclusions:

• Nurses' practical experience is a key resource in ethical care.
• Combining experiential learning with casuistry offers a systematic approach to ethical problem-solving.
• This integrated method can lead to improved solutions for complex nursing home care situations.
• The proposed model supports evidence-based and ethically sound nursing practice.