Ethical problems among nurses during pandemics: A study from Turkey

BACKGROUND: Fighting Covid 19 at the forefront, increased the risk of infection and scarcity of resources have caused the ethical problems among nurses. It was planned to examine the ethical problems faced by nurses caring for Covid-19 patients and how they overcame the outcomes of these problems. METHODOLOGY: This qualitative study was conducted with 20 nurses who caring Covid 19 patients in Turkey. Data were collected between January 24 and February 21, 2021. Purposive sampling was used in the study and a qualitative content analysis was performed. RESULTS: The research findings were discussed under two main themes as ethical problems and outcomes of ethical problems faced by nurses working in Covid-19 units. Then, 4 sub-categories for the theme of ethical problems (institutional problems, lack of knowledge and experience in nurses’ new place of duty, enforcing nurses to do doctors’ duties, problems encountered while caring for patients) and 2 sub-categories (emotions felt by nurses, coping strategies) for the theme of outcomes of ethical problems faced by nurses were defined. CONCLUSION: The findings emphasize that nurses face ethical problems while giving care to Covid 19 problems. The nature of health services requires an ethical perspective to protect and improve human health, especially in uncertain, difficult and risky situations. Nurses should be supported to provide the ethical perspective in the best way.