The nurses’ perception of the factors influencing professional misconduct: A qualitative study

• Published in: Nursing ethics Vol. 31; no. 2-3; pp. 281 - 295
• Main Authors: Ghobadi, Akram, Sayadi, Leila, Nayeri, Nahid Dehghan, Shabestari, Alireza Namazi, Varaei, Shokoh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01-05-2024; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Adult; Attitude of Health Personnel; Bureaucracy; Codes of conduct; Confidentiality; Content analysis; Ethics; Female; Human factors; Humans; Informed consent; Interviews as Topic - methods; Iran; Male; Medical ethics; Middle Aged; Misconduct; Nurses; Nurses - psychology; Nurses - statistics & numerical data; Organizational factors; Patients; Perception; Personal characteristics; Professional misconduct; Professional Misconduct - ethics; Professional Misconduct - psychology; Professional Misconduct - statistics & numerical data; Qualitative Research; Quality of care; Recruitment; Iran; Qualitative research; professional ethics; professional misconduct; nurses
• ISSN: 0969-7330; 1477-0989; 1477-0989
• DOI: 10.1177/09697330231184469

Background
Professional misconduct undermines safe and quality care; however, little is known about its nature and influential factors.
Aim
This study aimed to explain the factors influencing professional misconduct in nurses.
Research Design
This qualitative study was conducted using the conventional content analysis method.
Participants and Research Context
Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with 19 nurses working in the hospital selected through a purposeful method and analyzed by Graneheim and Lundman approach.
Ethical Considerations
The ethics committee of Tehran University of Medical Sciences approved this study with the ethics code IR.TUMS.FNM.REC.1400.187. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. Participants were assured of confidentiality.
Findings
Factors influencing professional misconduct by nurses were categorized into three main categories: human factors (nurses’ professional characteristics, personal characteristics of nurses and patient/companion, patient’s clinical condition), procedural factors (procedural conditions, possibility of proving misconduct), and organizational factors (recruitment process, conditions of resources, managing misconduct, bureaucracy, and ward characteristics).
Conclusion
This study assists in explaining the factors influencing professional misconduct by nurses. Therefore this study’s results can help managers and planners develop interventions to prevent and correct factors that contribute to misconduct and strengthen factors that prevent misconduct in order to ensure quality and safe patient care.