Abstract
This study examined the experience of moral uncertainty in practice and its effect on the nurses who experience it. Humility is coming to an understanding of the complexity of ethical understanding. This means acknowledging that moral beliefs may exist that are equally fundamental and yet contradictory within a given situation. It also means recognizing and acknowledging moral uncertainty. Instead of pursuing a search for moral certainty, living with the ambiguities of the ethical life is not only suggested, but recommended. Although even statements of fact may be tentative, one can have sufficient knowledge to take moral action, subject to revision of one's point of view, with the accumulation of more evidence.
Sigma Membership
Eta Pi
Type
Research Study
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Phenomenology
Research Approach
Qualitative Research
Keywords:
Nursing Ethics, Ethical Decision Making, Ethics, Acute Care, Moral Distress, Moral Reasoning, Philosophical Perspectives, Nursing Philosophy
Recommended Citation
Wurzbach, Mary Ellen, "Experiencing moral uncertainty in practice" (2024). General Submissions: Nursing as Profession. 19.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/gen_sub_np/19
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.
All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Peer-review: Single Blind
Acquisition
Self-submission
Full Text of Presentation
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