Ethics and Human Rights Issues in Nursing Practice: A Survey of Perioperative Nurses

This replication study used a mailed survey, “Ethics and Human Rights Issue in Nursing Practice: A Survey of Perioperative Nurses,” with a convenience sample of 750 members of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses. Two hundred and eighteen (N = 218) subjects were enrolled in the study for a response rate of 29.1%. Respondents reported being involved in an ethical situation 1–5 times a year (30.7%). Respondents identified the nurse–physician relationship (57.3%) as the most frequently encountered ethical issue. Cost-containment measures that threaten the quality of care (10.6%) were identified as the most disturbing ethical issue. No significant variations were noted according to the demographics of the sample (eg, position, gender, inpatient versus outpatient, or perioperative specialty).