Swedish and Chinese nurses' conceptions of ethical problems : a comparative study

• The aim was to investigate Swedish and Chinese nurses' conceptions of ethical problems and workplace stress and ascertain whether there are differences between the nurses in the two countries and between types of clinics. A comparative and quantitative research design was used. The study was carried out at one hospital in China and two hospitals in Sweden. One hundred and thirty-six Chinese nurses and 137 Swedish nurses participated by completing a questionnaire. There was a statistical difference between nurses working in the different countries regarding commonest stated ethical problem. The Swedish nurses indicated a greater number of ethical problems than the Chinese nurses. The latter felt irritated, dissatisfied or sad at work or after work more often than the Swedish nurses. Forty-one per cent of the nurses in both countries thought there was a modest or rather big difference between the current and the desired quality of nursing. The findings were partially the same in the two countries and this underlines the importance of looking at ethical problems from an organisational perspective.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Omvårdnad (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Nursing (hsv//eng)

Keyword

China

cross-national

ethics

nurses

nursing

Sweden

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)