Background: A small minority of nurses are investigated when they fail to meet the required professional standards. Unprofessional conduct does not just affect the nurse but also patients, colleagues and managers. However, it has not been clearly defined. Objective: The objective was to identify unprofessional conduct by registered nurses by examining disciplinary decisions by a national regulator. Design: A retrospective document analysis. Data and research context: Disciplinary decisions delivered to 204 registered nurses by the Finnish national regulatory authority from 2007 (...) to 2016. The data were analysed with quantitative statistics. Ethical consideration: The study received permission from the Finnish National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health and used confidential documents that were supplied on the basis of complete anonymity and confidentiality. Findings: The mean age of the registered nurses who were disciplined was 44 years and 81% were female. Two-thirds had worked for their employer for 5 years or less, 53% had two or more employers and 18% had a criminal history. All the decisions included a primary reason for why the nurses were investigated, but there were also 479 coexisting reasons. In most cases, unprofessional conduct was connected to substance abuse. In addition, stealing of medicine, a decreased ability to work and neglect of nursing guidelines were reported. Discussion: We found that the nurses were investigated for unprofessional conduct for complex combinations of primary and coexisting reasons. Our study highlighted that more attention needs to be paid to the key markers for unprofessional conduct. Conclusion: Unprofessional conduct is a complex phenomenon that is connected to nurses’ individual and working backgrounds and has an impact on their work performance. More research is needed to identify how nursing communities can detect, manage and limit the serious effects and consequences of unprofessional conduct. (shrink)

Background Professional values create a basis for successful collaboration and person-centred care in integrated care and services. Little is known about how different health and social care workers assess their professional values. Research aim To describe and compare professional value orientation among different health and social care workers in Finland. Research design A quantitative cross-sectional study. Participants and research context We carried out an online survey of health and social care workers from 8 March to 31 May 2022, using the (...) Finnish version of the Nurses’ Professional Values Scale-3. The data were analysed using descriptive and advanced statistics. Ethical considerations Permission was received from all participating organizations and those who completed the survey provided informed consent. Results A total of 1823 health and social care workers, representing seven professional groups and students, took part. The overall level of professional values among the participants was relatively high. Commitment to providing patients and clients with equal care was more important than engaging with society and professional responsibilities in the work environment. Professional values were strongest among professionals with higher educational degrees and training in professional ethics. The same was true for workers who received organizational support for ethical practice, were satisfied with their work and had shorter work experience. Discussion Our results showed shared professional values among different health and social care workers and students. These results are meaningful for integrated care and services. At the same time, a clear need for strengthening engagement with society and professional responsibilities for developing work environments were identified. Conclusions Health and social care workers and students need training in professional ethics and organizational support for ethical practice and work satisfaction to maintain their professional values at different stages of their career. (shrink)

This article is based on the assumption that the researcher cannot detach from his or her own view in phenomenological research. The researcher is assumed to be able to understand the experiences of an individual only through the points of departure created by the researcher's own view. The goal of this article is to describe practical aspects and their theoretical grounds that are of crucial importance in overcoming a researcher's views in data gathering and analysis. Its purpose is to clarify (...) the authenticity and ethical standards concerning the views of the researcher in phenomenological research. (shrink)