Towards ethical decision-making in nursing practice

This article explores some nursing research done by the author illustrating nurses' experiences with decision-making in ethical issues. The article then looks at how we can foster ethical decision-making in nursing practice. Nurses in the author's study described their experience of decision-making in relation to the ethical issue of prolongation of life. The results of the study portrayed nurses' descriptions in terms of an overall theme of senselessness. Senseless decision-making was a major finding in the study and included inadequate involvement of the patient, inadequate involvement of the family, inadequate involvement of the nurse, and fragmentary team decision-making. Nurses' descriptions of a senseless decision-making process are examined by the author in terms of conflict and powerlessness. The author concludes by reviewing recent nursing literature suggesting how we can move from senseless to ethical decision-making in nursing practice.