Nursing ethics in decision-making with palliative patients

Ethical decision-making by nursing professionals is defined as a sequential process consisting of professional responsibility and moral components, such as moral sensitivity. Objective: To assess ethical conduct in nursing decision-making for palliative patients in an Oncology Hospital. A study was carried out with an observational, descriptive, retrospective and cross-sectional approach. The population consisted of 52 nursing professionals. The technique used was the questionnaire, one to determine moral sensitivity in the CuSMCE-23 and the other to measure the ability to make ethical decisions Decision Making Questionnaire II. According to the sociodemographic characteristics of the professionals, those aged 31 to 40 years (42.31%) showed a high degree of moral sensitivity. In the ability to make decisions, they reflected adaptation and clarity of criteria and objectives, but not for making a quick decision they considered to have little information. No significant differences were found between the degree of moral sensitivity and ethical decision-making. In conclusion, nursing staff have a high moral sensitivity for the care of palliative patients, however, they consider little information to make a quick decision, this being an essential aspect to guarantee a better quality of care in the face of ethical dilemmas.