Ethical conflicts with hospitals: the perspective of nurses and physicians
Gaudine, A.; LeFort, S.M.; Lamb, M.; Thorne, L.
Nursing Ethics 18(6): 756-766
2011
ISSN/ISBN: 1477-0989
PMID: 21974940
DOI: 10.1177/0969733011401121
Accession: 036273553
Nurses and physicians may experience ethical conflict when there is a difference between their own values, their professional values or the values of their organization. The distribution of limited health care resources can be a major source of ethical conflict. Relatively few studies have examined nurses' and physicians' ethical conflict with organizations. This study examined the research question 'What are the organizational ethical conflicts that hospital nurses and physicians experience in their practice?' We interviewed 34 registered nurses, 10 nurse managers, and 31 physicians as part of a larger study, and asked them to describe their ethical conflicts with organizations. Through content analysis, we identified themes of nurses' and physicians' ethical conflict with organizations and compared the themes for nurses with those for physicians.