ETHICAL DILEMMAS ENCOUNTERED BY NURSES EMPLOYED BY HOSPITALS, COMMUNITY HEALTH AGENCIES, AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. (VOLUMES I AND II).
Contributors: Texas A & M University.
Published: 1988
Number of pages: 503
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: Purpose. The purpose of this study was to identify the ethical dilemmas most frequently encountered and those perceived to be most important by three groups of nurses, and to compare the groups in terms of the frequency of encounter and the perceived importance of those dilemmas.

Procedure. A survey instrument was developed through a Delphi exercise which involved 18 Registered Nurses representing hospital, community health, and public school nurses. The Delphi exercise resulted in the development of a list of 55 ethical dilemmas encountered by the three groups. Two Likert-type scales were used to allow respondents to rate all of the individual dilemmas in terms of their frequency of encounter and perceived importance. The survey instrument was sent to 1,709 hospital, community health, and public school nurses in the five largest metropolitan areas in Texas. Six hundred eighty-seven usable responses were returned.

Data analysis. The three groups of nurses were compared in terms of total scores on the frequency of encounter and on the perceived importance of the dilemmas. The dilemmas were ranked according to their frequency of encounter and their perceived importance. These procedures were accomplished for the entire sample and for each of the study groups. To investigate the differentials in terms of expected outcomes and observed outcomes for both the frequency of encounter of the dilemmas and the perceived importance of the dilemmas, a chi-square technique was employed.

Recommendations. Based upon the findings of this study, the following recommendations are presented: (1) Nurse educators should assume greater responsibility for assuring that ethics becomes a prominent feature of the curriculum. (2) Nurses should become active proponents of sex education in the public schools. (3) Nurses should become active proponents of change in public policy to increase the availability of health care for those unable to pay. (4) Nurses should work toward adequate representation on institutional ethics committees. (5) Nurses should work together to ensure that the ethical dilemmas which they encounter are brought to the attention of administrators and the appropriate ethics committees. (6) Nurses should work to obtain clearly-written policies concerning appropriate actions related to frequently-occurring ethical dilemmas.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-06, Section: B, page: 2333.

Thesis (PH.D.)--TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY, 1988.

School code: 0803.