Ethical issues in the operating room: A scoping review

Background For the patients receiving care in the operating room, it emphasizes that the ethical behavior and attitude of health professionals should be aligned with patients’ basic human rights. Surgical ethics may provide an ethical alternative in a specific operating room context. However, it is...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nursing Ethics 2024-06, Vol.31 (4), p.472-492
Main Authors: Jeon, Heejung, Kim, Sanghee, Shon, Yuha
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Codes of conduct
Ethical conduct
Ethical dilemmas
Ethics
Health behavior
Human rights
Humans
Medical personnel
Nurses
Operating Rooms - ethics
Operating theatres
Organizational ethics
Patients
Professional ethics
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background For the patients receiving care in the operating room, it emphasizes that the ethical behavior and attitude of health professionals should be aligned with patients’ basic human rights. Surgical ethics may provide an ethical alternative in a specific operating room context. However, it is unclear how actively research is being conducted in this regard. Aim This study determines the direction of future research by identifying ethical issues experienced in the operating room. Method This scoping review is based on the methodological framework suggested by Arksey and O’Malley in 2005. PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, WOS, Cochrane, KISS, and KMbase databases were searched from January 2012 to May 2022. Two researchers independently screened the searched articles by reviewing the titles, abstracts, and full texts. Consequently, 19 studies were selected. Findings Five categories were identified: Professional ethics, Organizational ethics, Patients’ rights, Patient safety, and Allocating resources. The derived categories covered all the same content as the International Council of Nurses’ (ICN) code of ethics, with the exception of one element, that is, global health. Conclusions This study highlights ethical issues in the operating theatre and emphasizes the need for individual and organizational strategies aligned with the ICN code of ethics. Future research should cover a wider range of issues, employ diverse perspectives and methodologies, and enhance ethical practices to improve understanding and ethical practices in the field.
ISSN:0969-7330
1477-0989
1477-0989
DOI:10.1177/09697330231197704