Universidad Central de Chile, Chile.
Molde University College, Norway; Møre og Romsdal Health Trust, Norway.
Nurs Ethics. 2022 May;29(3):527-539. doi: 10.1177/09697330211041746. Epub 2022 Feb 10.
The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic is impacting the delivery of healthcare worldwide, creating dilemmas related to the duty to care. Although understanding the ethical dilemmas about the duty to care among nurses is necessary to allow effective preparation, few studies have explored these concerns.
This study aimed to identify the ethical dilemmas among clinical nurses in Spain and Chile. It primarily aimed to (1) identify nurses' agreement with the duty to care despite high risks for themselves and/or their families, (2) describe nurses' well-being and (3) describe the associations between well-being and the duty to care.
Cross-sectional self-reported anonymous data were collected between May and June 2020 via electronic survey distribution (snowball sampling).
The Institutional Ethical Review Committees in both countries approved the study (CHUC_2020_33 and 27/2020).
In total, 345 clinical nurses answered the primary question about the duty to care for the sick. Although in the total sample 77.4% agreed they have a duty to care for the sick, significant differences were found between the Spanish and Chilean samples. Overall, 53.6% of the nurses reported low levels of well-being; however, among those reporting low well-being, statistically significant differences were found between Spanish and Chilean nurses as 19.4% and 37.8%, respectively, disagreed with the statement regarding the duty to care.
Participants in both countries reported several ethical dilemmas, safety fears, consequent stress and low well-being. These results suggest that prompt actions are required to address nurses' ethical concerns, as they might affect their willingness to work and psychological well-being.
Our findings shed light on the ethical dilemmas nurses are facing related to the duty to care. Not only has the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic given rise to ethical challenges, but it has also affected nurses' well-being and willingness to work during a pandemic.
2019 年冠状病毒病大流行正在影响全球的医疗保健服务提供，引发了与护理责任相关的困境。尽管了解护士在护理责任方面的道德困境对于有效准备是必要的，但很少有研究探讨这些问题。
本研究旨在确定西班牙和智利临床护士的道德困境。主要目的是：（1）确定护士在自身和/或家人面临高风险的情况下对护理责任的认同程度；（2）描述护士的福祉；（3）描述福祉与护理责任之间的关联。
2020 年 5 月至 6 月间，通过电子调查分发（滚雪球抽样）收集了横断面自我报告的匿名数据。
两国的机构伦理审查委员会均批准了该研究（CHUC_2020_33 和 27/2020）。
共有 345 名临床护士回答了关于照顾病人的护理责任这一主要问题。尽管在总样本中，77.4%的护士同意他们有照顾病人的责任，但在西班牙和智利样本之间存在显著差异。总体而言，53.6%的护士报告福祉水平较低；然而，在报告福祉水平较低的护士中，西班牙和智利护士之间存在统计学显著差异，分别有 19.4%和 37.8%不同意有关护理责任的陈述。
两个国家的参与者都报告了一些道德困境、安全担忧、随之而来的压力和低福祉。这些结果表明，需要采取迅速行动来解决护士的道德关切，因为这可能会影响他们的工作意愿和心理健康。
我们的研究结果揭示了护士在护理责任方面面临的道德困境。2019 年冠状病毒病大流行不仅带来了伦理挑战，还影响了护士在大流行期间的福祉和工作意愿。
