Guaranteeing dignity and decent work for migrant nurses and health care workers beyond the COVID-19 pandemic

AIM(S)

The main aim of this article is to outline the devastating aftereffects of COVID-19 in terms of ethical recruitment and the respect of dignity of nurses and health care professionals.

BACKGROUND

Nations experience the ominous impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of an exacerbated shortage of nurses worldwide. In this situation, migration flows of nurses are skyrocketing and the respect of the migrant nurses' dignity as human beings should be guaranteed.

EVALUATION

Data from reports elaborated by the International Centre on Nurse Migration (ICNM) were examined and outlined the central role of the respect of dignity of every nurse to prevent unethical exploitation of them.

KEY ISSUE(S)

The respect of human dignity is a complex concept. Human dignity denotes the inner nature of human beings but also their rights at work.

CONCLUSION(S)

In a post-COVID-19 world with increased flows of nurse migration, it is crucial to guarantee dignity at work for migrant nurses.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

Nurse leaders should prioritize the ethical recruitment of health care workers and give a prominent role to the WHO 'Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel' which recognizes the ethical bedrocks of employment.

Public health nurses' professional dignity: An interview study in Finland

BACKGROUND

Dignity is a central human value supported by nurses' professional ethics. In previous studies, nurses in clinical practice have experienced that dignity increased their work well-being and pride of work. Dignity is also strictly interweaved to professional identity in the different nursing' roles, but little is known about dignity among public health nurses and primary care settings.

PURPOSE

This study aimed to describe the perceptions of nursing's professional dignity of public health nurses in primary care in Finland.

RESEARCH DESIGN

An inductive qualitative descriptive approach with semi-structured focus group interviews was utilised.

PARTICIPANTS AND RESEARCH CONTEXT

Twenty-seven Finnish public health nurses were interviewed via eight semi-structured focus group interviews in primary health care settings.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Before data collection, research permissions were obtained from participating health care centres. This type of research in Finland, with competent adult participants, does not require ethical pre-assessment but written and oral informed consent obtained before the interviews.

FINDINGS

Based on our findings, public health nurses perceived that professional dignity was (1) part of their self-respect, an observed daily value based on their acknowledged competence. Besides, they perceived that (2) service users' trust in public health nurses was a strong expression of professional dignity, and it could be uncovered when recipients of care utilised their services. In addition, public health nurses experienced that (3) professional dignity was an expression of different intertwined interprofessional and social factors.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Professional dignity is simultaneously an essential prerequisite and an outcome of public health nurses' work. In future, more information would be needed to implement strategies in primary health care to foster nurses' professional dignity also in international public health arenas.

Nurses' lived experiences of professional autonomy in Iran

Objectives

Nurses' autonomy is a complex and multi-dimensional concept that has often been overlooked. Although many studies have addressed patients' autonomy, there has been no assessment of nurses' experience of professional autonomy. The present study aimed to assess nurses’ lived experiences of professional autonomy in Shiraz, Iran.

Methods

The present qualitative study was conducted in Shiraz (Iran) from January 2016 to February 2018. The target population was selected among nursing professionals employed by various hospitals affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. The experiences of the participants were assessed through 14 in-depth semi-structured interviews. The response of the participants was analyzed using Van Manen's 6-step approach for interpretive phenomenology.

Results

Based on the analysis of the interviews, 4 themes, 11 categories, and 13 sub-categories were extracted. The themes were: Advocacy for patients and nurses, independence in the workplace, Involvement in professional decision-making, and Professional accountability.

Conclusion

Due to the intense interaction between nurses and patients, a better quality of care will be achieved if the professional autonomy of nurses is ensured. Healthcare authorities and hospital managers should provide the framework and permit the nurses to practically exercise full independence in the workplace.

Ethical competence: An integrative review

Background:

Ethics, being a fundamental component of nursing practice, must be integrated in the nursing education curriculum. Even though different bodies are promoting ethics and nursing researchers have already carried out work as regards this concept, it still remains difficult to clearly identify the components of this competence.

Objective:

This integrative review intends to clarify this point in addition to better defining ethical competence in the context of nursing practice.

Method:

An integrative review was carried out, for the 2009–2014 period, in the CINAHL, MEDLINE, and EMBASE databases and in the journal Nursing Ethics. The keywords nursing ethics or ethical competence were used in order to make sure to widely encompass the concept of “ethical competence” in the case of a university curriculum in nursing. In the end, 89 articles were selected.

Ethical consideration:

We have respected the ethical requirements required regarding the sources and authorship. There is no conflict of interest in this literature review.

Results:

Ethical sensitivity, Ethical knowledge, Ethical reflection, Ethical decision-making, Ethical action, and Ethical behavior are the most frequently used terms with regard to ethical competence in nursing. They were then defined so as to better ascertain the possible components of ethical competence in nursing.

Conclusion:

Even though ethical competence represents a sine qua non competence in nursing practice, no consensus can be found in literature with respect to its definition. The identification of its components and their relationships resulting from this integrative review adds to the clarification of its definition. It paves the way for other studies that will contribute to a better understanding of its development, especially among nursing students and practicing nurses, as well as the factors that may exert an influence. More adapted education strategies can thus be put forward to support its development.

Exploring nurses' personal dignity, global self-esteem and work satisfaction

BACKGROUND

This study examines nurses' perceptions of dignity in themselves and their work. Nurses commonly assert concern for human dignity as a component of the patients' experience rather than as necessary in the nurses' own lives or in the lives of others in the workplace. This study is exploratory and generates potential relationships for further study and theory generation in nursing.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

What is the relationship between the construct nurses' sense of dignity and global self-esteem, work satisfaction, and identified personal traits?

PARTICIPANTS AND RESEARCH CONTEXT

This cross-sectional correlation study used a stratified random sample of nurses which was obtained from a US University alumni list from 1965 to 2009 (N = 133).

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

University Institutional Review Board approval was achieved prior to mailing research questionnaire packets to participants. Participation was optional and numerical codes preserved confidentiality.

FINDINGS

Statistical results indicated a moderately strong association between the nurse's sense of personal dignity and self-esteem (rx = .62, p = .000) with areas of difference clarified and discussed. A positive but moderate association between nurses' personal dignity and nurses' work satisfaction (rx = .37, p = .000) and a similar association between self-esteem and nurses' work satisfaction (rs = .29, p = .001) were found. A statistically significant difference was found (F = 3.49 (df = 4), p = .01) for dignity and categories of spiritual commitment and for nurses' personal dignity when ratings of health status were compared (F = 21.24 (df = 4), p = .000).

DISCUSSION

Personal sense of dignity is discussed in relation to conceptual understandings of dignity (such as professional dignity) and suggests continued research in multiple cultural contexts.

CONCLUSION

The relationships measured show that nurses' sense of dignity has commonalities with self-esteem, workplace satisfaction, spiritual commitment, and health status; the meaning of the findings has ramifications for the welfare of nurses internationally.