Conflictos éticos en los cuidados de Enfermería durante la pandemia por COVID 19

Abstract

Objective: the main objective was to identify the ethical conflicts faced by Nursing professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain in their professional setting.Method: a qualitative study was conducted through ethnography in order to approach the experience lived by Nursing professionals working in Spain during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Intentional sampling was used to select 33 participants, who were contacted to participate in non-structured online interviews. Data analysis was conducted with a thematic approach which involved the identification of units of meaning and the generation of codes.Results: the study included 29 Nursing professionals, mostly women, working at a hospital. Three main ethical conflicts were identified. The first was related to “Prioritization by age: conflict in equitable treatment”, which came up due to limited resources and difficult decision making. The second conflict was called “Dying alone: a conflict with the humane treatment of patients”, because relatives could not accompany patients at the end of their lives due to visiting restrictions. The third conflict was: “Care with (in)security: the conflict of putting patients, nurses and relatives at risk”, associated with the lack of protection materials, which generated fear of potential contagion both in the professional and the family setting.Conclusion: the identification of these ethical conflicts underlines the need to redirect the ethics of healthcare for future pandemics by health center managers.