An integrated ethical decision-making model for nurses

Abstract

The study reviewed 20 currently-available structured ethical decision-making models and developed an integrated model consisting of six steps with useful questions and tools that help better performance each step: (1) the identification of an ethical problem; (2) the collection of additional information to identify the problem and develop solutions; (3) the development of alternatives for analysis and comparison; (4) the selection of the best alternatives and justification; (5) the development of diverse, practical ways to implement ethical decisions and actions; and (6) the evaluation of effects and development of strategies to prevent a similar occurrence. From a pilot-test of the model, nursing students reported positive experiences, including being satisfied with having access to a comprehensive review process of the ethical aspects of decision making and becoming more confident in their decisions. There is a need for the model to be further tested and refined in both the educational and practical environments.

Nurse leaders as managers of ethically sustainable caring cultures

“…A need exists for ethical leadership, where NL use the common good as their guiding principle (loadstar). Today, because of the diversity of the values that care staff hold and because rapid change is common in complex organizations (Park 2012), it is ever more challenging to make ethical decisions that promote patients' safety and welfare. While ethical values have always formed the lodestars of care, one should question what comprises the foundations of current care cultures.…”

Deliberação ética em saúde: revisão integrativa da literatura

“…The quality of decisions making needs to be evaluated in terms of its conclusion, as well as its deliberation process 36 . Deliberation strategies are tools that make rational, systematized and objective analysis of ethical problems experienced in health services possible.…”

Ethical competence and psychiatric and mental health nursing education. Why? What? How?

“…Ethical decision‐making models are tools designed to assist healthcare professionals navigate the process of moral deliberation. They are widely available in a variety of forms (Park () provides a helpful overview of 20 models and articulates an integrated model for nurses). These tools may be based on a variety of ethical theories (Garity, ).…”