Nursing ethics
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Comparative Study
Relief of suffering and regard for personhood: nurses' ethical concerns in Japan and the USA.
The ethical concerns of Japanese nurses are compared with those of previously described nurses from the USA. Patient comfort was a primary concern of nurses from both countries. Participants described an ethical imperative to provide adequate pain medication for patients and prevent unnecessary and uncomfortable invasive tests and procedures, especially at the end of life as the focus changed from 'cure' to 'care'. ⋯ A common meaning centred around knowing patients as persons, listening to their needs and preferences, supporting their everyday choices through advocacy, and maintaining their dignity. Despite background cultural differences, there are common ethical concerns between nurses in Japan and the USA. This article invites readers to reflect on everyday nursing practices that exemplify ethical expertise, and the significance of this expertise in uncovering and articulating nursing ethics across cultures.
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Using a conceptual framework and method combining ethical enquiry and phenomenology, we asked 73 senior baccalaureate nursing students to answer two questions: (1) What is nursing students' experience of an ethical problem involving nursing practice? and (2) What is nursing students' experience of using an ethical decision-making model? Each student described one ethical problem, from which emerged five content categories, the largest being that involving health professionals (44%). The basic nature of the ethical problems consisted of the nursing students' experience of conflict, resolution and rationale; 85% of the students stated that using an ethical decision-making model was helpful. Although additional research is needed, these findings have important implications for nursing ethics education and practice.
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The term 'ethics committees' is used for very different things in different parts of the world. In Europe, ethics committees are generally concerned only with research and (apart from Belgium where the same committees deal with both aspects) do not have anything to do with decision making in clinical situations. ⋯ Some topics of research touched on and published in articles in Nursing Ethics are then highlighted, thus making it clear that it is written from my perspective as the Editor of Nursing Ethics and with the help of some of the members of the Editorial Board. Finally, a number of questions are asked and answers attempted concerning the interests served by ethics committees.