Characterization of nurses’ duty to care and willingness to report

Abstract

Background: Nurses must balance their perceived duty to care against their perceived risk of harm to determine their willingness to report during disaster events, potentially creating an ethical dilemma and impacting patient care. Research aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate nurses’ perceived duty to care and whether there were differences in willingness to respond during disaster events based on perceived levels of duty to care. Research design: A cross-sectional survey research design was used in this study. Participants and research context: Using a convenience sample with a snowball technique, data were collected from 289 nurses throughout the United States in 2017. Participants were recruited through host university websites, Facebook, and an American Nurses Association discussion board. Ethical considerations: Institutional review board approval was obtained from the University of Texas at Tyler and the University of Arkansas. Findings: Analysis of willingness to report to work based on levels of perceived duty to care resulted in the emergence of two groups: “lower level of perceived duty to care group” and “higher level of perceived duty to care group.” The most discriminating characteristics differentiating the groups included fear of abandonment by co-workers, reporting because it is morally the right thing to, and because of imperatives within the Nursing Code of Ethics. Discussion: The number of nurses in the lower level of perceived duty to care group causes concern. It is important for nursing management to develop strategies to advance nurses’ safety, minimize nurses’ risk, and promote nurses’ knowledge to confidently work during disaster situations. Conclusion: Level of perceived duty to care affects nurses’ willingness to report to work during disasters. Primary indicators of low perceived duty to care are amenable to actionable strategies, potentially increasing nurses’ perceived duty to provide care and willingness to report to work during disasters.

Willingness of university nursing students to volunteer during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brunei Darussalam

“…With the presence of a pandemic, staff nurses are stretched thin due to the lack of staff, which is why recruiting volunteers, especially nursing students, is recommended to overcome this problem (Blackwood, 2017;Hayter & Jackson, 2020;Iserson, 2020;McNeill et al, 2020;Swift et al, 2020;Quisao et al, 2021). However, from previous research, it can be observed that obtaining volunteers during an emergency can indeed be a challenge (Blackwood, 2017).…”

“…Although registered nurses are important healthcare providers, given their ability to offer direct care and support services, there is usually a nursing shortage (Blackwood, 2017). Disasters such as disease pandemics make nursing shortages more critical as such disasters increase patient demand, often exceeding the operational capacity of healthcare facilities (Blackwood, 2017;McNeill et al, 2020).…”

Nurses working in healthcare facilities during natural disasters: a qualitative enquiry

“…Nurses also work within high stress environments and some too, are faced with the effects of a natural disaster event. The work of nurses who choose to volunteer when disasters affect their country or region has been explored in several studies across the globe (Ganz et al 2019;McNeill et al 2019;Nash 2017) and some, as is the case with this study, were caught up by chance in a disaster that affected their healthcare facility. Yet, the collective willingness and duty to care was one core characteristic that was evidenced strongly in the interview data.…”

Factors affecting nurses’ duty to care during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Participants responded to questions regarding sociodemographic characteristics referring to previous studies: [15][16][17] age, marital status, religion, gender, education level, job position, working department, monthly income, and the type of hospital (size of hospital, type of department, severity of patients treated). Based on Jang, [18] who revised and supplemented Benner's [19] model according to the Korean population, careers were classified into 4 stages: the beginner level (up to 1 year of experience), advanced beginner level (more than 1 year and less than 3 years of experience), the competent level (more than 3 years and less than 7 years of experience), and the proficient level (7 years or more of experience).…”