Intensive care unit nurses' conflict of conscience: Walking the Razor's edge

• Published in: Nursing & health sciences Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 265 - 273
• Main Authors: Jodaki, Kurosh, Esmaeili, Maryam, Cheraghi, Mohammad Ali, Mazaheri, Monir
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Melbourne John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 01-03-2022; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Conflict of Conscience; Conflicts of interest; Conscience; Content analysis; end of life care; Ethics; Health care management; Humans; Intensive care; intensive care unit (ICU); Intensive Care Units; Iran; Medical ethics; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Nurse; Nurses; Nursing Care; Qualitative Research; Qualitative Study; Walking; intensive care unit (ICU); Iran; nurse; qualitative study; ethics; end of life care; conflict of conscience
• ISSN: 1441-0745; 1442-2018; 1442-2018
• DOI: 10.1111/nhs.12921

The study aimed to explore the conditions that accompany conflict of conscience experienced by nurses in intensive care units. A qualitative approach guided the study, which was undertaken between April 2020 and April 2021. A total of 15 registered nurses working in intensive care units were recruited through purposive sampling. Individual semistructured interviews were conducted. The data were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis. The analysis revealed two themes: “conflict of conscience in relation to the structure” and “conflict of conscience based on context.” Conflict of conscience in relation to the structure consisted of two categories: conflict of interest and conflict of conscience and law. Conflict of conscience based on context consisted of two categories: care dilemmas and arbitrary behaviors with end‐stage patients. A variety of factors were accompanied by a conflict of conscience for nurses in intensive care units. Given that conflict of conscience has negative consequences for the health and quality of nursing care, health care managers need to tailor strategies to reduce the negative consequences considering the findings of the study.