Educating nursing students on laws and ethics is essential since the nursing profession requires providing services that have many legal and ethical implications.
The goal of this study was to ...measure the effectiveness of two teaching strategies (providing online synchronous classes versus asynchronous classes) on nursing students' knowledge of legal and ethical issues and their ability to make legal and ethical decisions.
This study used a randomized control trial (RCT) design.
A total of 127 students from two governmental universities in Jordan participated in and completed the current study. The students were randomly assigned either to the experimental group which received the synchronous classes (n = 60, 47.2%) or the control group which received asynchronous classes (n = 67, 52.8%).
The two study groups were given a pre-test to measure their knowledge and ability to make legal and ethical decisions. After the pre-test, an online synchronous educational class about legal and ethical issues in nursing was carried out by the same educator twice a week and lasted for approximately 1.5 h each. At the same time, the students in the control group were provided with the same material but as asynchronous classes and were encouraged to watch the classes during the lecture. After completing the educational classes, both groups were asked to complete the post-test questionnaire.
The results indicated significant outcomes in terms of increasing the knowledge and the ability to make an ethical decision of students who attended the educational classes. However, the synchronous and asynchronous classes did not result in significant differences in students' learning outcomes.
Educating nursing students about legal and ethical issues in the nursing profession is important to prepare them to make legal and ethical decisions. In addition, using different teaching strategies is quite important in educating nursing students.
North American classroom teachers routinely face ethical challenges yet are seldom given opportunities to discuss this aspect of their practice with colleagues in professional development (PD). This ...paper analyzes data collected from 58 educators in a large American school district who participated in a PD that used a normative case study (NCS) to support discussions of ethical dilemmas in education. We find that while trusting relationships can mitigate uncomfortable discussions with colleagues, even one-time facilitated NCS PDs provide promising supports for perspective-sharing and internal reflection on ethical dilemmas in teaching.
The aim of this review study is to analyze and describe the main moral and ethical aspects regarding the minor patients' healthcare related procedures. The Pediatric Ethics differentiate from that of ...the competent adults, such particularities including surrogate decisions, confidentiality issues, genetic testing and research related matters, end-of-life situations and legal framework. An important aspect is that the child is not entirely lacking capacity, in fact, the literature underlines the importance of listening, analyzing and taking into consideration the minor patient’s opinions, statements or judgements according to their age and cognitive development. The approach of the minor patient should always take into account the triad “doctor-parent-child” without neglecting any of the participants and their role. The main responsibility of the healthcare professionals is to act guided by the best interests of the minor patient.
The COVID 19 Pandemic as a Moral Test for Society Breczko, Anetta; Breczko, Agata; Martinez, Rafael Antonio Lopez
Studies in logic, grammar and rhetoric : the Journal of University of Bialystok,
12/2023, Volume:
68, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The COVID-19 pandemic brings up unprecedented challenges. Healthcare practitioners find themselves in an extraordinary, wartime-like situation and are obliged to apply triage on a daily basis. In ...this context, routine procedures prove insufficient and the redefinition of ethical practice guidelines becomes a necessity – leading not only to a shift in procedures, but also reshaping the very value of human life. This, in turn, triggers an axiological crisis, which exacerbates the tension between paradigms of sanctity and quality of life and the conflicting principles of egalitarianism and utilitarianism. Triage should not be limited to healthcare practice only: the concept can be extended to a macro-level where policymakers decide whether to prioritize human lives over livelihoods and economic health, impacting healthcare system capacity. The complexity of the challenges arising from the pandemic uncovers the urgent need to seek solutions from an integrated approach. In this paper, we offer a transdisciplinary view: we first define technical aspects of triage from the perspective of a healthcare professional. In the second part, we further analyze the problem of medical prioritization in the light of doctrinal findings related to the value of human life, and we show how and to what extent this philosophical debate is reflected in the emerging ethical guidelines in France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany and Austria. Finally, we broaden the concept of triage, adding the “macro-economic” ingredient in our analysis and we present the results for selected European countries with special emphasis on the case of Poland.
Computational models are increasingly being used to assist in developing, implementing and evaluating public policy. This paper reports on the experience of the authors in designing and using ...computational models of public policy (‘policy models’, for short). The paper considers the role of computational models in policy making, and some of the challenges that need to be overcome if policy models are to make an effective contribution. It suggests that policy models can have an important place in the policy process because they could allow policy makers to experiment in a virtual world, and have many advantages compared with randomised control trials and policy pilots. The paper then summarises some general lessons that can be extracted from the authors’ experience with policy modelling. These general lessons include the observation that often the main benefit of designing and using a model is that it provides an understanding of the policy domain, rather than the numbers it generates; that care needs to be taken that models are designed at an appropriate level of abstraction; that although appropriate data for calibration and validation may sometimes be in short supply, modelling is often still valuable; that modelling collaboratively and involving a range of stakeholders from the outset increases the likelihood that the model will be used and will be fit for purpose; that attention needs to be paid to effective communication between modellers and stakeholders; and that modelling for public policy involves ethical issues that need careful consideration. The paper concludes that policy modelling will continue to grow in importance as a component of public policy making processes, but if its potential is to be fully realised, there will need to be a melding of the cultures of computational modelling and policy making.
During the 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic, transmission chains were controlled through contact tracing, i.e., identification and follow-up of people exposed to Ebola cases. WHO recommendations ...for daily check-ups of physical symptoms with social distancing for 21 days were unevenly applied and sometimes interpreted as quarantine. Criticisms arose regarding the use of coercion and questioned contact tracing on ethical grounds. This article aims to analyze contact cases' perceptions and acceptance of contact monitoring at the field level. In Senegal, an imported case of Ebola virus disease in September 2014 resulted in placing 74 contact cases in home containment with daily visits by volunteers. An ethnographic study based on in-depth interviews with all stakeholders performed in September–October 2014 showed four main perceptions of monitoring: a biosecurity preventive measure, suspension of professional activity, stigma attached to Ebola, and a social obligation. Contacts demonstrated diverse attitudes. Initially, most contacts agreed to comply because they feared being infected. They adhered to the national Ebola response measures and appreciated the empathy shown by volunteers. Later, acceptance was improved by the provision of moral, economic, and social support, and by the final lack of any new contamination. But it was limited by the socio-economic impact on fulfilling basic needs, the fear of being infected, how contacts' family members interpreted monitoring, conflation of contacts as Ebola cases, and challenging the rationale for containment. Acceptance was also related to individual aspects, such as the professional status of women and health workers who had been exposed, and contextual aspects, such as the media's role in the social production of stigma. Ethnographic results show that, even when contacts adhere rather than comply to containment through coercion, contact monitoring raises several ethical issues. These insights should contribute to the ethics debate about individual rights versus crisis public health measures.
•First in-depth analysis of Ebola contacts' perceptions of quarantine in West Africa.•Monitoring is interpreted as biosafety, work suspension, stigma, social obligation.•Contacts adhere then comply to containment due to risk, stigma and social pressure.•Even without coercion, social distancing for contacts raises ethical issues.
Globally nurses and midwives are working hard to detect cases of COVID‐19, to save lives or give comfort in the face of death, to educate themselves and the public about protective measures to stop ...the viral spread, while still caring for those not infected with the virus. In many countries nurses are working under virtual siege from this pandemic, with not enough resources or personal protective equipment, overwhelming numbers of patients, staff shortages, underprepared health systems and supply chain failures. Nurses and other health and emergency workers are suffering physical and emotional stress, and moral distress from conflicting professional values. They are faced with unpalatable and complex ethical issues in practice, with moral conflicts, high levels of acuity and patient deaths, and long working hours. A rising number of nurses are infected with SARS‐CoV‐2 or dying in the line of duty. Nurses need strong moral courage, stamina and resilience to work on the front lines of the pandemic, often while separated from their loved ones.
The gig economy is a phenomenon that is rapidly expanding, redefining the nature of work and contributing to a significant change in how contemporary economies are organised. Its expansion is not ...unproblematic. This article provides a clear and systematic analysis of the main ethical challenges caused by the gig economy. Following a brief overview of the gig economy, its scope and scale, we map the key ethical problems that it gives rise to, as they are discussed in the relevant literature. We map them onto three categories: the new organisation of work (what is done), the new nature of work (how it is done), and the new status of workers (who does it). We then evaluate a recent initiative from the EU that seeks to address the challenges of the gig economy. The 2019 report of the European High-Level Expert Group on the Impact of the Digital Transformation on EU Labour Markets is a positive step in the right direction. However, we argue that ethical concerns relating to algorithmic systems as mechanisms of control, and the discrimination, exclusion and disconnectedness faced by gig workers require further deliberation and policy response. A brief conclusion completes the analysis. The appendix presents the methodology underpinning our literature review.
•This article provides a systematic analysis of the ethical challenges of the gig economy.•It evaluates recent initiative from the EU to address these challenges.•It argues that ethical problems of gig workers require further deliberation and policy.
Aim
The aim of this study is to explore ethical dilemmas inherent in two potentially conflicting roles: practising nurse and researcher.
Background
Ethical guidelines for practice and research in ...nursing have been widely discussed. Yet examining ethical dilemmas that emerge from engaging in the dual role of nurse–researcher is rare.
Method
A qualitative approach was employed, using semi‐structured interviews with 15 nurse–researchers. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.
Results
One theme emerged with three subthemes of nurse–researcher role definitions: primarily nurse, primarily researcher and combined nurse–researcher. Each subtheme had three dimensions: (a) how ethical dilemmas were expressed in encounters with role colleagues, (b) coping strategies and (c) implications for nurse–researchers.
Conclusion
Primarily nurses or primarily researchers experienced conflict in encounters with role colleagues, developed less effective coping strategies and reported impaired well‐being. Conversely, combined nurse–researchers said each role nourished the other.
Implications for nursing management
Nursing policymakers and managers should support the nurse–researcher role by developing a code of ethics that acknowledges the dual role's inherent dilemmas, assimilate organisational routines and roles that support nursing research and encourage forums for discussing staff dilemmas.
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