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Nurses' use of conscientious objection and the implications for conscience.

Christina Lamb1, Marilyn Evans2, Yolanda Babenko-Mould2

  • 1University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.

Journal of Advanced Nursing
|October 18, 2018
PubMed
Summary

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Nurses find ethical meaning through lived experiences with conscience issues and conscientious objection (CO). Support for nurses' conscience rights is crucial for professional practice.

Area of Science:

  • Nursing Ethics
  • Bioethics
  • Qualitative Research

Background:

  • Conscientious objection (CO) is a critical issue for nurses, particularly in light of evolving healthcare policies.
  • The legalization of Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada has heightened the need to understand nurses' ethical perspectives.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the meaning of conscience for nurses within the context of conscientious objection in clinical practice.
  • To understand how nurses navigate ethical dilemmas related to their conscience.

Main Methods:

  • Interpretive phenomenology guided the study.
  • Data were collected through one-on-one interviews with eight nurses in Ontario.
  • Iterative, phased analysis, including line-by-line highlighting and thematic analysis, was employed.
Keywords:
conscienceconscientious objectionethicshuman rightsmoral decision-makingnursingphenomenologyqualitative research

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Nurses derive ethical meaning from their lived experiences with conscience-based conscientious objection.
  • Conscience issues and CO are current and critical challenges for nurses in Canada.
  • There is a need for enhanced ethics education, awareness, and respect for nurses' conscience.

Conclusions:

  • Ethical meaning is constructed through nurses' experiences with significant ethical issues requiring professional action via CO.
  • This study is the first to explore the meaning of conscience from nurses' perspectives in the context of CO.
  • Support from leadership, regulatory bodies, and policy is indicated to uphold nurses' conscience rights.