Biomedical subjects

B Dierckx de Casterlé

Publications and source records attributed to B Dierckx de Casterlé.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Nursing, obedience, and complicity with eugenics: a contextual interpretation of nursing morality at the turn of the twentieth century.

This paper uses Margaret Urban Walker's "expressive collaborative" method of moral inquiry to examine and illustrate the morality of nurses in Great Britain from around 1860 to 1915, as well as nursing complicity in one of the first eugenic policies. The authors aim to focus on how context shapes and limits morality and agency in nurses and contributes to a better understanding of debates in nursing ethics both in the past and present.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed2006

Nurses' views on their involvement in euthanasia: a qualitative study in Flanders (Belgium).

BACKGROUND: Although nurses worldwide are confronted with euthanasia requests from patients, the views of palliative care nurses on their involvement in euthanasia remain unclear. OBJECTIVES: In depth exploration of the views of palliative care nurses on their involvement in the entire care process surrounding euthanasia. DESIGN: A qualitative Grounded Theory strategy was used. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: In anticipation of new Belgian legislation on euthanasia, we conducted semistructured interviews with 12 nurses working in a palliative care setting in the province of Vlaams-Brabant (Belgium). RESULTS: Palliative care nurses believed unanimously that they have an important role in the process of caring for a patient who requests euthanasia, a role that is not limited to assisting the physician when he is administering life terminating drugs. Nurses' involvement starts when the patient requests euthanasia and ends with supporting the patient's relatives and healthcare colleagues after the potential life terminating act. Nurses stressed the importance of having an open mind and of using palliative techniques, also offering a contextual understanding of the patient's request in the decision making process. Concerning the actual act of performing euthanasia, palliative care nurses saw their role primarily as assisting the patient, the patient's family, and the physician by being present, even if they could not reconcile themselves with actually performing euthanasia. CONCLUSIONS: Based on their professional nursing expertise and unique relationship with the patient, nurses participating as full members of the interdisciplinary expert team are in a key position to provide valuable care to patients requesting euthanasia.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

The complexity of nurses' attitudes toward euthanasia: a review of the literature.

In this literature review, a picture is given of the complexity of nursing attitudes toward euthanasia. The myriad of data found in empirical literature is mostly framed within a polarised debate and inconclusive about the complex reality behind attitudes toward euthanasia. Yet, a further examination of the content as well as the context of attitudes is more revealing. The arguments for euthanasia have to do with quality of life and respect for autonomy. Arguments against euthanasia have to do with non-maleficence, sanctity of life, and the notion of the slippery slope. When the context of attitudes is examined a number of positive correlates for euthanasia such as age, nursing specialty, and religion appear. In a further analysis of nurses' comments on euthanasia, it is revealed that part of the complexity of nursing attitudes toward euthanasia arises because of the needs of nurses at the levels of clinical practice, communication, emotions, decision making, and ethics.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2004

Involvement of nurses in euthanasia: a review of the literature.

In ethical debates about euthanasia, the focus is often exclusively on the involvement of physicians and the involvement of nurses is seldom given much attention. Yet nurses occupy a central position in the care of terminal patients, where being confronted with a euthanasia request is an ever present possibility. To assess the involvement of nurses in euthanasia, this article provides an overview of relevant findings from the scientific literature. From this it becomes apparent that nurses are involved in various phases of the euthanasia process: observing the request for euthanasia, decision making, carrying out of euthanasia, and the aftercare for the patient's family members.

Decision Making↗

PubMed1998

An adjusted version of Kohlberg's moral theory: discussion of its validity for research in nursing ethics.

Critics of Kohlberg's moral theory today focus on the content of his theory and more specifically on its justice-orientated moral concept. This has led to the well-known 'justice-care debate'. The purpose of this article is to critically examine the validity of Kohlberg's moral theory for research in nursing ethics from a caring perspective (referring to the content) as well as from a cognitive-structural perspective (referring to the basic assumptions of the model). The analysis points to the usefulness and value of the cognitive-structural model to empirically study nurses' ethical behaviour; the content of Kohlberg's model, however, needs to be adapted by adding a caring perspective as well as some personal and situational variables. An adjusted version of Kohlberg's model is proposed and discussed.

Cognition↗

PubMed1998

Supporting nurses in ethical decision making.

In their clinical practice, nurses are confronted continuously with ethical issues. There is a growing concern about the capacity of nurses to perform ethically. This article explores the process of ethical decision-making in nursing, including the process of ethical reasoning and the implementation of ethical decisions in clinical practice. This article begins with a reflection on the essence of nursing and on nurses' ethical responsibility. Problems as well as determinants related to nurses' ethical decision-making, are described. Based on the research in this area, some strategies to support ethical decision-making by nurses are proposed.

Aged↗

PubMed1997

Nursing students' responses to ethical dilemmas in nursing practice.

In literature as well as in nursing practice a growing concern about nurses' ethical competence can be observed. Based on the cognitive theory of moral development by Kohlberg, this research examined nursing students' ethical behaviour in five nursing dilemmas. Ethical behaviour refers not only to the ethical reasoning of nursing students but also to the relationship between reasoning and behaviour. Kohlberg's definition of morality was refined by adding a care perspective. The results show that the majority of students can be located in the fourth moral stage according to Kohlberg's theory, that is, the conventional level of moral development. This finding implies that students are still guided by professional rules, norms and duties, and have not (yet) succeeded in making personal ethical decisions on the basis of their own principles and acting according to such decisions.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

Development, reliability, and validity testing of the Ethical Behavior Test: a measure for nurses' ethical behavior.

The need for reliable and valid measures for ethical behavior of nurses has encouraged the authors to develop a new instrument to measure students' ethical behavior in daily nursing dilemmas. Characteristic of the instrument presented is the inclusion of two fundamental components of ethical behavior: (1) ethical reasoning (and the resulting decision), and (2) the actual implementation of the ethical decision. As for many instruments, Kohlberg's theory of moral development has been used as the conceptual framework. However, Kohlberg's abstract justice orientation was refined by a care perspective and representative nursing dilemmas were used to make the instrument conceptually more appropriate for measuring nurses' ethical behavior. The analysis of the psychometric properties of the instrument has provided several relevant indications for the reliability and validity of the ethical reasoning and implementation scores. The revealed inconsistencies in the Ethical Behavior Test could be satisfactorily interpreted in terms of Kohlberg's theory and related empirical research findings, supporting the reliability of the ethical behavior scores. The content validity rests upon the careful development of the instrument resulting in an optimal mix of dilemmas, arguments and care situations to reveal nurses' ethical behavior and in a substantial degree of correspondence between the concept and operationalization. The congruency between the patterns of ethical behavior and Kohlberg's theoretical insights about ethical reasoning and practice support the construct validity of the instrument.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

The relationship between education and ethical behavior of nursing students.

Based on the cognitive theory of moral development of Kohlberg, refined by the addition of the dimension "ethics of care" and the educational theory of Janssen, the relationship of education and ethical behavior of nursing students was examined. Ethical behavior referred not only to the ethical reasoning of students but also to the relationship between this reasoning and their behavior. This study examined the responses of 2,624 nursing students to five ethical nursing dilemmas included in the Ethical Behavior Test by relating them to four educational variables: students' level of education, level of enrollment, school, and students' perceptions of the educational process. A significant relationship between education and ethical behavior was found.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Mental illness in the family: an emotional experience.

A qualitative study was conducted in Iceland to describe the experiences of family members of the seriously mentally ill. Eighteen family members were interviewed. From organizing the interview data into categories nine theme clusters emerged: emotionally painful and disturbing feelings; fears about the safety of the patient as well as of other family members; unpredictability of the episodic characteristics of mental illness; prejudice or unfairness toward patient and family; acceptance of the illness; cognitive, emotional, and behavioral coping strategies; hope as an element to come to terms with the mental illness; emotional support; and the need for informational and instrumental support. These nine themes could be categorized into three main groups: emotional impact, adapting to the illness, and support needs. The results of this study have clinical and theoretical implications not only for psychiatric nursing in Iceland but also for all clinicians working with the families of the seriously mentally ill.

Adaptation, Psychological↗