Nurse managers' perspectives on working with everyday ethics in long-term care

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Nursing Ethics
• Leadership Studies

Background:

• Nurse managers are crucial for upholding ethical standards and supporting healthcare workers' ethical competence.
• Existing research indicates a gap in support for nurses to provide ethical care.
• This study addresses the need to understand nurse managers' roles in ethical support within aged care and home nursing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore nurse managers' perceptions of their role in supporting staff in ethically sound care.
• To understand the challenges and opportunities nurse managers face in this role.
• To identify areas where nurse managers require support to effectively foster ethical conduct among their staff.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study involving 10 nurse managers from nursing homes and home nursing care.
• Data collected through individual interviews.
• Content analysis used for data interpretation.

Main Results:

• Managers perceived the importance, experience, and opportunities related to their role in ethical support.
• Challenges included conceptualizing ethics, lack of tools/time, and varying employee motivation.
• Ethics was often viewed as a personal matter, with support needs varying by individual.

Conclusions:

• Nurse managers require support to understand and fulfill their responsibilities in fostering staff ethical competence.
• Effective ethical support goes beyond reflection meetings, demanding greater understanding of ethical leadership.
• Clearer distinction between managers' support responsibility and individual employee responsibility is needed.