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Australian clinical nurse supervisors’ ethical decision‐making style
Author(s) -
Berggren Ingela,
Bégat Ingrid,
Severinsson Elisabeth
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
nursing and health sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.563
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1442-2018
pISSN - 1441-0745
DOI - 10.1046/j.1442-2018.2002.00096.x
Subject(s) - ethical decision , style (visual arts) , nursing , clinical decision making , psychology , medline , ethical issues , medicine , family medicine , engineering ethics , social psychology , political science , geography , archaeology , engineering , law
This paper explores clinical nurse supervisors’ ethical styles with regard to supervision in health care. Eighty‐six registered nurses, all with experience of supervising clinical nurses and students in nursing, completed a specifically designed questionnaire. A qualitative interpretative content analysis identified three core themes: (i) ‘Is it safe?’; (ii) ‘Is it right?’; and (iii) ‘Is it kind?’, describing the clinical nurse supervisors’ ethical styles. The first core theme ‘Is it safe?’ covered the supervisors’ rules, codes and values that guide their supervisory actions, as well as two subthemes: (i) empowerment and (ii) integrity. The second core theme ‘Is it right?’ described the supervisors’ responsibility and advocacy as well as the ethical dilemmas experienced in the supervisory process. The third core theme ‘Is it kind?’ included the supervisors’ relationships with patients, professionals and supervisees. The results demonstrate the value of offering a support system, such as clinical supervision, which helps nurses to explore their professional identity for the benefit of the patients.