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Ethical/moral experiences of oncology nurses
1Department of Graduate Nursing Science, California State University, USA.
Purpose/Objectives:
To describe the ethical/moral situations that oncology nurses report experiencing.
Design:
Descriptive, exploratory, qualitative.
Setting:
United States.
Sample:
Seventy nurses selected randomly from the Oncology Nursing Society Membership Directory.
Methods:
The participants responded in writing to the following question: Describe an oncology clinical situation in which you experienced ethical/moral questions. Share all the thoughts, perceptions, and feelings you can recall until you have no more to say about the situation.
Findings:
Most of the experiences these oncology nurses reported reflected a care perspective; focused on the moral principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, fidelity, and truth telling; and revealed moral themes of suffering, secrets, and struggle.
Conclusions:
Oncology nurses in this study experienced ethical/moral situations related to a care perspective rather than a justice perspective, and this information provides a beginning oncology nursing ethics framework.
Implications For Nursing Practice:
Oncology nursing preparation should include ethical content based on the actual experiences of oncology nurses.