Abstract
Objective
identify strategies, which from the perspective of intensive care unit nurses support the development of moral sensitivity.
Method
this qualitative, descriptive and exploratory study addressed 19 nurses working in three intensive care units of a philanthropic hospital located in southern Brazil, using semi-structured interviews and discursive textual analysis.
Results
two categories emerged: development of moral sensitivity during academic training and development of moral sensitivity during professional experience. Discussion and reflection upon ethical problems, extracurricular activities, effective communication, multidisciplinary work, meetings, and the search for knowledge along with continuous health education stood out among strategies.
Conclusions and implications for practice
the development of moral sensitivity among nurses can support help them recognizing and dealing with ethically inappropriate situations, favoring nurses’ autonomy and ability to deal with ethical conflicts emerging in the workplace. This study’s results show that giving priority to collective reflection and discussion in both training and care settings strengthen ethical, coherent, autonomous and efficient decision-making.
Keywords:
Moral development; nursing; ethics in nursing; critical care