Nurse managers' experience with ethical issues in six government hospitals in Malaysia: A cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Nurse managers have the burden of experiencing frequent ethical issues related to both their managerial and nursing care duties, according to previous international studies. However, no such study was published in Malaysia. The purpo...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Musa Maizura, Harun-Or-Rashid Md, Sakamoto Junichi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2011-11-01
Series:BMC Medical Ethics
Online Access:http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6939/12/23
_version_ 1818834840065146880
author Musa Maizura
Harun-Or-Rashid Md
Sakamoto Junichi
author_facet Musa Maizura
Harun-Or-Rashid Md
Sakamoto Junichi
author_sort Musa Maizura
collection DOAJ
description <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Nurse managers have the burden of experiencing frequent ethical issues related to both their managerial and nursing care duties, according to previous international studies. However, no such study was published in Malaysia. The purpose of this study was to explore nurse managers' experience with ethical issues in six government hospitals in Malaysia including learning about the way they dealt with the issues.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study was conducted in August-September, 2010 involving 417 (69.2%) of total 603 nurse managers in the six Malaysian government hospitals. Data were collected using three-part self-administered questionnaire. Part I was regarding participants' demographics. Part II was about the frequency and areas of management where ethical issues were experienced, and scoring of the importance of 11 pre-identified ethical issues. Part III asked how they dealt with ethical issues in general; ways to deal with the 11 pre-identified ethical issues, and perceived stress level. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations and Pearson's Chi-square.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 397 (95.2%) participants experienced ethical issues and 47.2% experienced them on weekly to daily basis. Experiencing ethical issues were not associated with areas of practice. Top area of management where ethical issues were encountered was "staff management", but "patient care" related ethical issues were rated as most important. Majority would "discuss with other nurses" in dealing generally with the issues. For pre-identified ethical issues regarding "patient care", "discuss with doctors" was preferred. Only 18.1% referred issues to "ethics committees" and 53.0% to the code of ethics.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Nurse managers, regardless of their areas of practice, frequently experienced ethical issues. For dealing with these, team-approach needs to be emphasized. Proper understanding of the code of ethics is needed to provide basis for reasoning.</p>
first_indexed 2024-12-19T02:41:12Z
format Article
id doaj.art-5cd48ccdc9a645d9b87672585491754b
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1472-6939
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-19T02:41:12Z
publishDate 2011-11-01
publisher BMC
record_format Article
series BMC Medical Ethics
spelling doaj.art-5cd48ccdc9a645d9b87672585491754b2022-12-21T20:39:08ZengBMCBMC Medical Ethics1472-69392011-11-011212310.1186/1472-6939-12-23Nurse managers' experience with ethical issues in six government hospitals in Malaysia: A cross-sectional studyMusa MaizuraHarun-Or-Rashid MdSakamoto Junichi<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Nurse managers have the burden of experiencing frequent ethical issues related to both their managerial and nursing care duties, according to previous international studies. However, no such study was published in Malaysia. The purpose of this study was to explore nurse managers' experience with ethical issues in six government hospitals in Malaysia including learning about the way they dealt with the issues.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study was conducted in August-September, 2010 involving 417 (69.2%) of total 603 nurse managers in the six Malaysian government hospitals. Data were collected using three-part self-administered questionnaire. Part I was regarding participants' demographics. Part II was about the frequency and areas of management where ethical issues were experienced, and scoring of the importance of 11 pre-identified ethical issues. Part III asked how they dealt with ethical issues in general; ways to deal with the 11 pre-identified ethical issues, and perceived stress level. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations and Pearson's Chi-square.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 397 (95.2%) participants experienced ethical issues and 47.2% experienced them on weekly to daily basis. Experiencing ethical issues were not associated with areas of practice. Top area of management where ethical issues were encountered was "staff management", but "patient care" related ethical issues were rated as most important. Majority would "discuss with other nurses" in dealing generally with the issues. For pre-identified ethical issues regarding "patient care", "discuss with doctors" was preferred. Only 18.1% referred issues to "ethics committees" and 53.0% to the code of ethics.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Nurse managers, regardless of their areas of practice, frequently experienced ethical issues. For dealing with these, team-approach needs to be emphasized. Proper understanding of the code of ethics is needed to provide basis for reasoning.</p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6939/12/23
spellingShingle Musa Maizura
Harun-Or-Rashid Md
Sakamoto Junichi
Nurse managers' experience with ethical issues in six government hospitals in Malaysia: A cross-sectional study
BMC Medical Ethics
title Nurse managers' experience with ethical issues in six government hospitals in Malaysia: A cross-sectional study
title_full Nurse managers' experience with ethical issues in six government hospitals in Malaysia: A cross-sectional study
title_fullStr Nurse managers' experience with ethical issues in six government hospitals in Malaysia: A cross-sectional study
title_full_unstemmed Nurse managers' experience with ethical issues in six government hospitals in Malaysia: A cross-sectional study
title_short Nurse managers' experience with ethical issues in six government hospitals in Malaysia: A cross-sectional study
title_sort nurse managers experience with ethical issues in six government hospitals in malaysia a cross sectional study
url http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6939/12/23
work_keys_str_mv AT musamaizura nursemanagersexperiencewithethicalissuesinsixgovernmenthospitalsinmalaysiaacrosssectionalstudy
AT harunorrashidmd nursemanagersexperiencewithethicalissuesinsixgovernmenthospitalsinmalaysiaacrosssectionalstudy
AT sakamotojunichi nursemanagersexperiencewithethicalissuesinsixgovernmenthospitalsinmalaysiaacrosssectionalstudy