Perspectives of nurses and patient representatives on the morally competent nurse: An international focus group study
Background: Across the world, healthcare systems have become increasingly complex, making it more difficult for nurses to act ethically when faced with moral dilemmas. The COVID-19 pandemic in particular revealed ethical challenges, highlighting the need for nurses to attain high levels of moral com...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-06-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666142X25000062 |
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| author | Chris Gastmans Evelyne Mertens Alvisa Palese Brian Keogh Francesca Apolloni Johanna Wiisak Catherine Mc Cabe Maria Dimitriadou Alessandro Galazzi Michael Igoumenidis Nikos Stefanopoulos Paraskevi Charitou Evridiki Papastavrou Riitta Suhonen Stefania Chiappinotto |
| author_facet | Chris Gastmans Evelyne Mertens Alvisa Palese Brian Keogh Francesca Apolloni Johanna Wiisak Catherine Mc Cabe Maria Dimitriadou Alessandro Galazzi Michael Igoumenidis Nikos Stefanopoulos Paraskevi Charitou Evridiki Papastavrou Riitta Suhonen Stefania Chiappinotto |
| author_sort | Chris Gastmans |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Across the world, healthcare systems have become increasingly complex, making it more difficult for nurses to act ethically when faced with moral dilemmas. The COVID-19 pandemic in particular revealed ethical challenges, highlighting the need for nurses to attain high levels of moral competence. Nurses who attain moral competency provide superior patient care because they have integrated clinical competence with sensitivity to moral values. Understanding what comprises moral competence in nursing is crucial to stimulate and support consistent ethical behaviour. However, most studies to date on moral competence in nursing have been conducted at a national level and only from a particular stakeholders’ perspective, thereby limiting their utility. Objective: To explore and document the characteristics of the morally competent nurse from the perspectives of nurses and patient representatives practicing in Europe. Design: A descriptive qualitative study was conducted. Methods: Semi-structured focus group discussions were conducted to collect data. Data were analysed with a descriptive thematic method. Participants: A purposive sample of 38 nurses and 35 patient representatives was recruited. They were geographically spread across six European countries. Results: The overarching characteristic of a morally competent nurse that emerged from our thematic analyses of group discussions is that they are person-centred. This person-centred quality is expressed on intrapersonal and interpersonal levels. The theme ‘main components of moral competence in nurses’ can be divided into three subthemes: knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Conclusions: This study provided a deeper understanding of moral competency in nurses, from both the perspective of nurses and patient representatives in Europe. Morally competent nurses are person-centred and possess the requisite knowledge, skills, and attitudes that foster positive relationships with patients and their families, as well as with their nursing colleagues. Pedagogically, the results should be useful for teaching how moral competence can be supported in practice and how nurses can be better prepared to deal with ethically sensitive care practices in constantly evolving healthcare systems. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-923a2509777e4e74a75c8ea14fcd46a1 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2666-142X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances |
| spelling | doaj-art-923a2509777e4e74a75c8ea14fcd46a12025-02-04T04:10:35ZengElsevierInternational Journal of Nursing Studies Advances2666-142X2025-06-018100296Perspectives of nurses and patient representatives on the morally competent nurse: An international focus group studyChris Gastmans0Evelyne Mertens1Alvisa Palese2Brian Keogh3Francesca Apolloni4Johanna Wiisak5Catherine Mc Cabe6Maria Dimitriadou7Alessandro Galazzi8Michael Igoumenidis9Nikos Stefanopoulos10Paraskevi Charitou11Evridiki Papastavrou12Riitta Suhonen13Stefania Chiappinotto14Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Centre for Biomedical Ethics and Law, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Corresponding author at: KU Leuven - Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Centre for Biomedical Ethics and Law, Kapucijnenvoer 7 - box 7001, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Centre for Biomedical Ethics and Law, KU Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumDepartment of Medicine, University of Udine, Udine, ItalySchool of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, IrelandFaculty of Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, GermanyDepartment of Nursing Science, University of Turku, Turku, FinlandSchool of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, IrelandCyprus Nurses and Midwives Association, Nicosia, CyprusSchool of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, IrelandDepartment of Nursing, University of Patras, Patras, GreeceDepartment of Nursing, University of Patras, Patras, GreeceCyprus Nurses and Midwives Association, Nicosia, CyprusCyprus Nurses and Midwives Association, Nicosia, Cyprus; Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, Cyprus University of Technology, Nicosia, CyprusDepartment of Nursing Science, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; The Wellbeing Services County of Southwest Finland, Turku University Hospital, Turku, FinlandDepartment of Medicine, University of Udine, Udine, ItalyBackground: Across the world, healthcare systems have become increasingly complex, making it more difficult for nurses to act ethically when faced with moral dilemmas. The COVID-19 pandemic in particular revealed ethical challenges, highlighting the need for nurses to attain high levels of moral competence. Nurses who attain moral competency provide superior patient care because they have integrated clinical competence with sensitivity to moral values. Understanding what comprises moral competence in nursing is crucial to stimulate and support consistent ethical behaviour. However, most studies to date on moral competence in nursing have been conducted at a national level and only from a particular stakeholders’ perspective, thereby limiting their utility. Objective: To explore and document the characteristics of the morally competent nurse from the perspectives of nurses and patient representatives practicing in Europe. Design: A descriptive qualitative study was conducted. Methods: Semi-structured focus group discussions were conducted to collect data. Data were analysed with a descriptive thematic method. Participants: A purposive sample of 38 nurses and 35 patient representatives was recruited. They were geographically spread across six European countries. Results: The overarching characteristic of a morally competent nurse that emerged from our thematic analyses of group discussions is that they are person-centred. This person-centred quality is expressed on intrapersonal and interpersonal levels. The theme ‘main components of moral competence in nurses’ can be divided into three subthemes: knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Conclusions: This study provided a deeper understanding of moral competency in nurses, from both the perspective of nurses and patient representatives in Europe. Morally competent nurses are person-centred and possess the requisite knowledge, skills, and attitudes that foster positive relationships with patients and their families, as well as with their nursing colleagues. Pedagogically, the results should be useful for teaching how moral competence can be supported in practice and how nurses can be better prepared to deal with ethically sensitive care practices in constantly evolving healthcare systems.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666142X25000062EthicsFocus groupsMoral competenceMultinational perspectivesNursingPatient representatives |
| spellingShingle | Chris Gastmans Evelyne Mertens Alvisa Palese Brian Keogh Francesca Apolloni Johanna Wiisak Catherine Mc Cabe Maria Dimitriadou Alessandro Galazzi Michael Igoumenidis Nikos Stefanopoulos Paraskevi Charitou Evridiki Papastavrou Riitta Suhonen Stefania Chiappinotto Perspectives of nurses and patient representatives on the morally competent nurse: An international focus group study International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances Ethics Focus groups Moral competence Multinational perspectives Nursing Patient representatives |
| title | Perspectives of nurses and patient representatives on the morally competent nurse: An international focus group study |
| title_full | Perspectives of nurses and patient representatives on the morally competent nurse: An international focus group study |
| title_fullStr | Perspectives of nurses and patient representatives on the morally competent nurse: An international focus group study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Perspectives of nurses and patient representatives on the morally competent nurse: An international focus group study |
| title_short | Perspectives of nurses and patient representatives on the morally competent nurse: An international focus group study |
| title_sort | perspectives of nurses and patient representatives on the morally competent nurse an international focus group study |
| topic | Ethics Focus groups Moral competence Multinational perspectives Nursing Patient representatives |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666142X25000062 |
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