A Qualitative Approach to Ethical Challenges of Iranian Nurses during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

2 Ph.D. Student in Business Administration, School of Accounting and Management, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

3 Master Graduate in Business Administration, School of Accounting and Management, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

Abstract

Background: Nurses have critical roles and responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. They may face ethical issues due to exposure to new illnesses and a lack of experience in these new situations.
Aims: The present study aims to qualitatively investigate the ethical challenges of Iranian nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: In this qualitative, semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with 15 nurses working in COVID-19 wards from a hospital in Yazd, Iran from February 2020 to April 2021. Data analysis was conducted by thematic analysis techniques.
Results: During the analysis, five themes were generated including ethical principles, ethical decision-making, educational challenges, communication challenges, and workplace challenges.
Conclusion: The current findings demonstrated that frontline nurses at COVID-19 wards experienced their work as challenging and with much uncertainty at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. It seemed as if training programs in advance could help reduce this uncertainty.

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History

  • Receive Date: 08 April 2022
  • Accept Date: 30 April 2022

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