The Effect of Ethics Education Programme on The Nurses’ Level Of Ethical Decision Making: A Phenomenology Study

Abstract

Objective: This study was carried out to examine the effect of the ethical training program applied to the nurses on the nurses’ level of capability for ethical decisions.

Methods: This study was carried out as a qualitative research methods of descriptive phenomenology and the research sample consisted of 13 nurses. The research was carried out in three stages. In the first stage, the first data were collected by the face to face individual interviews lasting approximately 90-120 minutes.In the second stage of the research, “Ethical Training Program” was applied. In the third stage of the research, data were collected by the depth interview method. Nvivo 11 package software and “Content Analysis” method were used in evaluation of the qualitative data.

Results: In the interviews with the nurses before the ethics education, 8 themes and 33 sub-themes were determined. After the ethics education, 10 main themes and 22 sub-themes were determined. After the education, the nurses could express their opinions about ethical decision making and ethical decision process which they couldn’t express before the education. Conclusions: In conclusion, after the “Ethical Training Program”, there was a positive change in the nurses’ “Ethical Basic Knowledge” and “Level of Capability of Ethical Decision”.