The experiences of professional nurses with ethical dilemmas in nursing practice at Witbank Hospital, Nkangala District Mpumalanga Province

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine the experiences of professional nurses with ethical dilemmas at the Witbank hospital Nkangala district Mpumalanga province. The objectives of the study were to describe the experiences of professional nurses with ethical dilemmas in nursing practice and to determine supportive measures to help professional nurses to deal with ethical dilemmas encountered in nursing practice. The research question was: what are the ethical dilemmas that professional nurses experience in nursing practice? Kohlberg theory of moral development was used as a theoretical framework. A qualitative exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design was used to describe the experiences of professional nurses with ethical dilemmas in nursing practice. Purposive sampling was used to sample fourteen (14) professional nurses. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews. Open-coding method of data analysis was used and four themes and sub-themes emerged. The study found that professional nurses experience ethical dilemmas related to death and dying, distribution of both human and material resources, respect of patients’ autonomy and the nurses’ rights. The study recommends continuous ethics education and the inclusion of ethics in nursing curricula, creation of a supportive working environment, knowledge and understanding of the pledge of service, Inter- disciplinary teams to discuss ethical issues, availability of ethics experts and ethics mentors in the wards.