Ethical Dilemmas and the Moral Distress Commonly Experienced by Oncology Nurses: A Narrative Review from a Bioethics Consortium from India
Nurses working in oncology frequently have to make tough moral choices, such as how to break bad news or how to make sure a dying patient receives good palliative or end-of-life care. In the context of patient care, this may limit the ethical and moral options available to nurses. This can cause mor...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Indian Journal of Medical and Paediatric Oncology |
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| Online Access: | http://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.1055/s-0044-1790583 |
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| author | Manjeshwar Shrinath Baliga Seema Chauhan Ani Grace Kalaimathi Lal P. Madathil Thomas George Russell Franco D'souza Princy Louis Palatty |
| author_facet | Manjeshwar Shrinath Baliga Seema Chauhan Ani Grace Kalaimathi Lal P. Madathil Thomas George Russell Franco D'souza Princy Louis Palatty |
| author_sort | Manjeshwar Shrinath Baliga |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Nurses working in oncology frequently have to make tough moral choices, such as how to break bad news or how to make sure a dying patient receives good palliative or end-of-life care. In the context of patient care, this may limit the ethical and moral options available to nurses. This can cause moral dissonance and ethical insensitivity on the job and can be very stressful. To be able to meet ethical problems in trying times calls for capacity to recognize and know how to manage the concerns. The purpose of this article was to describe common ethical challenges and to present some methods that may be helpful when confronting them. This narrative review discusses the ethical standards that oncology nurses should uphold and implement in their daily work. Many common ethical dilemmas are also explored, and the study hopes to shed light on how novice nurses, such as students and fresh recruits, may experience when caring for cancer patients and their family caregivers. Importantly, this review also addresses aspects of how nurses can improve their skills so that they can deal with the ethical quandaries and moral discomfort that arise on a daily basis in cancer care. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d97c485a26be4f52893e077658ec5e46 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 0971-5851 0975-2129 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Indian Journal of Medical and Paediatric Oncology |
| spelling | doaj-art-d97c485a26be4f52893e077658ec5e462025-08-20T02:22:34ZengThieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd.Indian Journal of Medical and Paediatric Oncology0971-58510975-21292025-04-01460213414110.1055/s-0044-1790583Ethical Dilemmas and the Moral Distress Commonly Experienced by Oncology Nurses: A Narrative Review from a Bioethics Consortium from IndiaManjeshwar Shrinath Baliga0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2931-4623Seema Chauhan1Ani Grace Kalaimathi2Lal P. Madathil3Thomas George4Russell Franco D'souza5Princy Louis Palatty6https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4147-0482Department of Education, International Program, International Chair in Bioethics, World Medical Association Cooperating Centre (Formerly UNESCO Chair in Bioethics University of Haifa), Haifa, IsraelCollege of Nursing, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Gorakhpur, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, IndiaTamilnadu Nursing Council, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, IndiaDepartment of Education, International Program, International Chair in Bioethics, World Medical Association Cooperating Centre (Formerly UNESCO Chair in Bioethics University of Haifa), Haifa, IsraelDepartment of Internal Medicine, Coney Island Hospital, Brooklyn, New York, United StatesDepartment of Education, International Program, International Chair in Bioethics, World Medical Association Cooperating Centre (Formerly UNESCO Chair in Bioethics University of Haifa), Haifa, IsraelThe Bioethics SAARC Nodal Centre, International Network Bioethics at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, Kerala, IndiaNurses working in oncology frequently have to make tough moral choices, such as how to break bad news or how to make sure a dying patient receives good palliative or end-of-life care. In the context of patient care, this may limit the ethical and moral options available to nurses. This can cause moral dissonance and ethical insensitivity on the job and can be very stressful. To be able to meet ethical problems in trying times calls for capacity to recognize and know how to manage the concerns. The purpose of this article was to describe common ethical challenges and to present some methods that may be helpful when confronting them. This narrative review discusses the ethical standards that oncology nurses should uphold and implement in their daily work. Many common ethical dilemmas are also explored, and the study hopes to shed light on how novice nurses, such as students and fresh recruits, may experience when caring for cancer patients and their family caregivers. Importantly, this review also addresses aspects of how nurses can improve their skills so that they can deal with the ethical quandaries and moral discomfort that arise on a daily basis in cancer care.http://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.1055/s-0044-1790583ethical dilemmasmoral distressoncology nursesbioethics |
| spellingShingle | Manjeshwar Shrinath Baliga Seema Chauhan Ani Grace Kalaimathi Lal P. Madathil Thomas George Russell Franco D'souza Princy Louis Palatty Ethical Dilemmas and the Moral Distress Commonly Experienced by Oncology Nurses: A Narrative Review from a Bioethics Consortium from India Indian Journal of Medical and Paediatric Oncology ethical dilemmas moral distress oncology nurses bioethics |
| title | Ethical Dilemmas and the Moral Distress Commonly Experienced by Oncology Nurses: A Narrative Review from a Bioethics Consortium from India |
| title_full | Ethical Dilemmas and the Moral Distress Commonly Experienced by Oncology Nurses: A Narrative Review from a Bioethics Consortium from India |
| title_fullStr | Ethical Dilemmas and the Moral Distress Commonly Experienced by Oncology Nurses: A Narrative Review from a Bioethics Consortium from India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ethical Dilemmas and the Moral Distress Commonly Experienced by Oncology Nurses: A Narrative Review from a Bioethics Consortium from India |
| title_short | Ethical Dilemmas and the Moral Distress Commonly Experienced by Oncology Nurses: A Narrative Review from a Bioethics Consortium from India |
| title_sort | ethical dilemmas and the moral distress commonly experienced by oncology nurses a narrative review from a bioethics consortium from india |
| topic | ethical dilemmas moral distress oncology nurses bioethics |
| url | http://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.1055/s-0044-1790583 |
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