Doctors’ and nurses’ perceptions of ethical problems in end‐of‐life decisions

Abstract

It was concluded that observed differences between doctors and nurses were a function of the professional role played by each rather than differences in ethical reasoning or moral motivation. Although this was a small qualitative study on one institution, and may not be generalizable, results suggest that doctors and nurses need to engage in moral discourse to understand and support the ethical burden carried by the other. Administrators should provide opportunities for discourse to help staff reduce moral distress and generate creative strategies for dealing with this.