Ethical conflicts in community-based health care

Abstract

In this practicum report, I describe my research practicum focused on ethical conflicts experienced by community-based nurses working in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. This research-based practicum project is situated within, and will contribute to, a larger grounded theory study entitled Clinical Ethics Committees and Ethical Conflicts in Community Health Care (Dr. Alice Gaudine and Dr. Caroline Porr, co-principal investigators). My overall goal was to conduct a qualitative research project to gain valuable experience with qualitative research methodology, namely interviewing and analyzing qualitative data. Five nurses were interviewed about ethical conflicts encountered in community-based health care. I employed the technique of qualitative content analysis to sort through and analyze the qualitative data derived from my interviews with community-based nurses. Several predominant categories emerged from the data: types of ethical conflicts, strategies used to manage conflicts, supportive factors, and barriers. I discuss these categories in detail within this report, including theoretical conjecture based on Greenberg and Edwards’ (2009) Voice and Silence in Organizations. I also put forth recommendations for nursing research, practice and administration based on my project findings. Finally, I discuss the advanced nursing practice competencies achieved through completion of this research practicum project.