Abstract

BELTRAN-SALAZAR, Óscar. Ethics dilemmas in nursing care. Index Enferm [online]. 2011, vol.20, n.1-2, pp.36-40. ISSN 1699-5988.  https://dx.doi.org/10.4321/S1132-12962011000100008.

Objective: To describe situations involving typical ethical dilemmas in nursing practice that influence patients' meanings about nursing care. Methodology: Data obtained from two phenomenological studies with 21 adults participants who were hospitalized and were interviewed in depth. The analysis was carried out according to the outline proposed by Cohen, Kahan and Steeves. Outcomes and discussion: Participants described situations in which nurses deprived them the protagonist role as they should have in nursing care. This aspect contributed to patient's rejection toward care. Conclusion: Nursing practice focuses based on erroneous decisions that don't comply to patients expectations required identification of dilemmas which must had been solved in a benefical way to patients in order to contribute to humanization and quality.

Keywords : Ethics; Nursing care; Treatment refusal; Patient compliance; Phenomenology.