Effects of Adherence to the Principles of Professional Ethics on Nursing Performance: A Narrative Review Study

Abstract

Introduction: Since the identification of priorities in planning can be decisive in reducing moral stress, this study aimed to review the impact of adherence to the principles of professional ethics on nursing performance reported in previous studies. Material and Methods: The search strategy in the present review was to screen the relevant studies published from the inception until 2020 on databases of PubMed/Medline, Web of science, CINAHL, Google Scholar, Magiran and SID, the results of which led to the extraction of 1785 related articles. After deleting duplicates and reviewing searched articles by researchers based on relevance, 27 articles were included in the study, 16 of which were excluded due to inaccessibility to the original articles and also writing in languages other than English and Persian. Eventually, 11 articles enrolled in the final analysis. Results: The studies emphasized four basic principles, including ''The effect of training on the development of ethical decision-making'', ''Understanding personnel and their response to ethical considerations'', ''Moral reasoning levels of personnel'', and ''Factors affecting the ethical decision- making of personnel''. Responsibility, improving the quality of patient care, and respect for the patient were the most important principles of professional ethics in nursing, whose full observance had been resulted in the reporting of favorable outcomes in studies. Conclusion: It seems that establishing a peaceful work environment can be effective in promoting adherence to professional ethics in various dimensions by nurses and in reporting misconduct in the workplace.