Moral deliberation and nursing ethics cases: elements of a methodological proposal

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Professional Ethics
• Qualitative Research

Background:

• Professional ethics infringements require systematic analysis.
• Existing methods for evaluating ethics violations may lack comprehensive frameworks.
• The Regional Nursing Board of Santa Catarina, Brazil, holds relevant historical data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify essential components for a method analyzing professional ethics infringements.
• To develop strategies for evaluating accusations and procedures for ethics hearings.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, and documentary research design.
• Inductive analysis of 128 professional ethics hearings (1999-2007) from the Regional Nursing Board of Santa Catarina, Brazil.
• Examination of structural elements in five exemplary professional ethics cases.

Main Results:

• Identified underlying elements for a professional ethics analysis method.
• Developed strategies for evaluating ethics infringement accusations.
• Proposed procedures for deliberating on professional ethics hearings.

Conclusions:

• The study proposes a generic method for analyzing professional ethics infringements.
• The proposed method requires adaptation to specific contexts of ethics accusations.
• This research contributes to establishing a structured approach to professional ethics proceedings.