An International Study of Nurses' Ethical Ideology and Religiosity

Abstract

To suggest that the nursing landscape is complex is a profound understatement. As nurses care for patients in a continuum of health, they are also confronted with the personal demands of their own value systems and religious belief systems in tandem with values and culture of the hospital. In an effort to shed some light on this complexity, this international study of nurses from four nations explored the relationship between religiosity and ethical ideology. The findings indicate that while there was no significant association between religiosity and ideology, nurses' religiosity, ethical idealism, and ethical relativism differ as a function of country/culture. Future research can investigate whether these differences manifest themselves in behaviour.

Ethics positions of nursing students in clinical decision-making

“…Therefore, the culture and religion of the nurse cannot be separated from nursing practices and nursing care practices, 41,42 and thus the ethics position may be affected. 13,15 Although there are criticisms of the focus group method in the literature, such as the researcher's close involvement in the method, which leads to subjectivity, 43 the findings related to the subject examined in this study, in which focus group interviews were conducted, may be considered important in terms of integrating the known literature information. As a matter of fact, as determined in this study, it has been reported in previous studies that role models, clinical resources, health policies, and personal characteristics are effective in the clinical decision-making of nursing students, 44 and ethics positions also affect their individual decisions or decisions regarding patient care.…”

“…Therefore, the culture and religion of the nurse cannot be separated from nursing practices and nursing care practices, 41,42 and thus the ethics position may be affected. 13,15…”

“…They play an advocacy role in this direction, fulfilling duties that include safeguarding against the side effects/complications of the medical intervention. 13 However, it has been pointed out that this process is affected by several variables, including individual differences, acquired skills, knowledge, personality traits, education, values, old habits and experiences, one’s line of work, etc. 2,14 The “moral philosophy” or “ethics position” of individuals, which is considered a way of determining how individuals make decisions, has been stated as an important variable in the decision-making process.…”