Ethical Issues Perceived by Nurses Working in Palliative Care Centers for the Elderly

Introduction: Many countries face an increasingly older population. Aging population implies anincreased prevalence of age-related diseases and disabilities. Thus,community nurses have a centralrole in caring for elderies in palliative care centers. Furthermore, nurses experience ethical and moralquestions in relationships with these patients.This study was conducted to explore nurse's experiencesof perceived ethical issues in palliative care centers for the elderly.Materials and Methods: This qualitative study was conductedin Tehran (Iran), ۲۰۲۱. Twenty-two nursing employedpalliative care centers for the elderly were enrolled usingpurposive sampling. In-depth and semi-structured interviewswere used for data collection and continued until reachingdata saturation. Data were analyzed by conventional contentanalysis using Graneheim andLundman's approach. Lincoln and.Guba’s (۱۹۸۵) criteria were used to ensure trustworthinessResults: Four main categories and twelve categories emergedfrom the data analysis: Managing family distress (continuousdebate, client-nurse relationship), Inadequate care due tolack of resources (Ethical dilemmas, Breaches of thepatient’s autonomy, unsatisfactory nursing care), MoralResidue (ethical conflict, moral distress, paternalism,Disagreements), and Impacts on career (professional strengthand values, job competency, Tensions). supporting healthcareprofessionals when they experience moralchallenges isimportant particularly because such challenges seem toinvolve a challenge to healthcare professionals’ self-understanding.Conclusion: Therefore, building ethical competence should be a priority in education of nurses in clinical practice

Keywords:

Ethical issues , nurses , palliative care