Forum on Public Policy 1 A Comparison of Physicians ’ and Nurses ’ Responses to Selected Ethical Dilemmas

In ethical decision making, some research shows that nurses stress patient autonomy while physicians stress beneficence (Robertson, 1996). When these two ethical principles are in conflict, which takes precedence? In addition, other research states that nurses encounter more moral distress than physicians in their everyday ethical environment. The purpose of this study was to explore the similarities and differences of physicians ‟ and nurses‟ responses on four different ethical dilemmas. The dilemmas included surgical error; end-of-life care; possible physician or nurse drug use; and the medical repatriation of an illegal immigrant. Additional questions were asked relating to any formal ethics training as well as if the participant had ever experienced any moral distress at the outcome of an ethical situation. The physicians and nurses were invited to share written comments after each dilemma. Exactly 67 nurses and 26 physicians completed the questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were used to show participant characteristics with all the variables as well as the numbers of persons choosing the different responses to the dilemmas. Tests of significance were done to assess these relationships. Interestingly, this study found that physicians and nurses reason more alike than differently on ethical dilemmas. There was only one response where physicians and nurses reasoned significantly different. Similarly, an equal number of physicians and nurses had experienced moral distress in the past. The variables of religion, gender, education, and ethnicity were significant for some of the responses to the dilemmas. Strategies will be suggested to enhance moral reasoning and possible lessen some moral distress. A Comparison of Physicians ’ and Nurses ’ Responses to Selected Ethical Dilemma