Expedient truth-telling in the ICU: a qualitative content analysis

Providing ethical care in nursing is of highly important, especially in intensive care units (ICUs). One of the primary challenges in these departments, due to the acute and complex care of patients, is the dilemma of whether to reveal the truth or conceal it. This study aimed to examine nurses’ lived experiences of truth-telling to patients hospitalized in ICUs. An exploratory-descriptive qualitative design was used. In this qualitative study, in-depth, semi structured interviews were conducted with 10 nurses working in ICUs of five educational hospitals. The data were analyzed via conventional content analysis with the five steps of Graneheim and Lundman’s technique. Data analysis revealed four main categories. The main theme of this study was “expedient truth-telling” and the categories included Mental and psychological conditions, Preparedness, Level of understanding, and Culture. Although nurses consider truth-telling as patients’ right, depending on patients’ different situation, they prefer to consider the patients’ expedience when they are admitted to the ICU basis on the principles of beneficence and non-maleficence. This expediency helps ensure that patients’ hope for recovery is not diminished.