Ethical concerns of visiting nurses caring for older people in the community

Abstract

BACKGROUND: An understanding of the ethical concerns encountered by visiting nurses in the community is needed. Yet, there is a lack of research on this topic. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to explore the ethical concerns that visiting nurses experience when caring for vulnerable older people living in a community. DESIGN AND SAMPLE: A qualitative thematic analysis was used to explore the nature of the ethical issues experienced by visiting nurses (N = 13) who care for vulnerable older people, over 65 years of age, in a South Korean community. METHODS: In-depth interviews were conducted with visiting nurses. Qualitative thematic analysis was used to explore the main themes of the phenomenon. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Chung-Ang University Bioethics Committee in South Korea. RESULTS: Four ethical themes emerged from the qualitative data: (a) quantitative performance rather than quality care, (b) clients being invisible, (c) tuning the level of the relationship with clients, and (d) facing the visiting nurses' own limitations. CONCLUSION: This study provides a theoretical basis to understand the ethical aspects of visiting nurses' interactions with clients, which should facilitate the development of ethical guidelines for visiting nurses to use in making ethical decisions in their practice.