Nursing ethics
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Observational Study
Caring for children in pediatric intensive care units: an observation study focusing on nurses' concerns.
Children in the pediatric intensive care unit are indisputably in a vulnerable position, dependent on nurses to acknowledge their needs. It is assumed that children should be approached from a holistic perspective in the caring situation to meet their caring needs. The aim of the study was to unfold the meaning of nursing care through nurses' concerns when caring for children in the pediatric intensive care unit. ⋯ The findings revealed three patterns: medically oriented nursing--here, the nurses attend to just the medical needs, and nursing care is at its minimum, leaving the children's needs unmet; parent-oriented nursing care--here, the nursing care emphasizes the parents' needs in the situation, and the children are viewed as a part of the parent and not as an individual child with specific caring needs; and smooth operating nursing care orientation--here, the nursing care is focused on the child as a whole human being, adding value to the nursing care. The conclusion drawn suggests that nursing care does not always respond to the needs of the child, jeopardizing the well-being of the child and leaving them at risk for experiencing pain and suffering. The concerns present in nursing care has been shown to be the divider of the meaning of nursing care and need to become elucidated in order to improve the cultural influence of what can be seen as good nursing care within the pediatric intensive care unit.
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Multicenter Study
Professional quality of life of Japanese nurses/midwives providing abortion/childbirth care.
This study explored the relationship between professional quality of life and emotion work and the major stress factors related to abortion care in Japanese obstetric and gynecological nurses and midwives. Between October 2011 and January 2012, questionnaires that included questions concerning eight stress factors, the Professional Quality of Life Scale, and the Japanese version of the Frankfurt Emotional Work Scale, were answered by 255 nurses and midwives working in abortion and childbirth services. ⋯ The stress factors "thinking that the aborted fetus deserved to live" and "difficulty in controlling emotions during abortion care" were associated with compassion fatigue. These findings indicate that providing abortion services is a highly distressing experience for nurses and midwives.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Moral distress and avoidance behavior in nurses working in critical care and noncritical care units.
Nurses facing impediments to what they perceive as moral practice may experience moral distress. The purpose of this descriptive, cross-sectional study was to determine similarities and differences in moral distress and avoidance behavior between critical care nurses and non-critical care nurses. Sixty-eight critical care and 28 non-critical care nurses completed the Moral Distress Scale and Impact of Event Scale (IES). ⋯ There was a small positive correlation between moral distress and avoidance behaviors for both the groups. Moral distress is present in both critical care and noncritical care nurses. It is important that nurses are provided with opportunities to cope with this distress and that retention strategies include ways to reduce suffering and mitigate the effects on professional practice.