Ethical Problems Encountered by The Nurses Serving in The Internal Medicine Clinics

Introduction: While providing care services, the nurses are expected to make ethical decisions that will always protect the patient. However, due to the gap between the practice and the professional and personal values adopted by the nurses, the nurses are frequently confronted with ethical problems while making decisions in the patient’s favor. Aim: This study aims to identify the ethical problems encountered by the nurses serving in the internal medicine clinics. Matherials and Methods: The study was conducted as a descriptive qualitative study. The research population was 24 nurses were included in the research sample in light of the data saturation criterion. The research data were gathered via the ‘Semi-Structured Interview Form for the Nurses’. The research data were examined through the content analysis method. Results: It was found that the ethical problems encountered by the participant nurses arose from the insufficiency of equipment and materials, the shortage of health employees/lack of time, the patients’ economic problems, the shortcomings in protecting privacy/inadequacy of physical conditions, the conflicts between doctors and nurses, the conflicts between patient relatives and nurses, the conflicts between patients and nurses, the conflicts between nurses, insufficient information presented to the patient, the uncertainty about the job description, the communication problems with other health professionals, and the problems about the doctor’s orders. Conlusion and sugestions: The study results are in parallel to the findings in the relevant literature, and it is asserted that the ethical problems encountered by the nurses are likely to give rise to burnout and ethical insensitivity in their professional lives and fall in the care quality. It was ascertained that the ethical problems encountered by the nurses came into being due to certain shortcomings, conflicts, and individual/institutional problems.