This study was aimed at identifying the types of perceptions of ethical issues among perioperative nurses.

Q-methodology focusing on individual subjectivity was used with data collected in November 2016. Thirty-four Q-statements were selected and scored by the 35 participants on a 9-point scale with normal distribution. Participants were perioperative nurses working in advanced general hospitals and general hospitals. The data were analyzed using the PC-QUANL program.

A total of 35 perioperative nurses were classified into 4 factors based on the following viewpoints: self-centered (type 1), onlooking and avoiding (type 2), patient-centered (type 3), and problem-centered (type 4). The 4 factors accounted for 57.84% of the total variance. Individual contributions of factors 1, 2, 3, and 4 were 41.80%, 7.18%, 5.20%, and 3.66%, respectively.

The major contribution of this study is the clarification of perioperative nurses’ subjective perceptions of ethical issues. These findings can be used in formulating effective strategies for nursing educators, professional nurses, and nursing administrators to improve ethical decision-making abilities and to perform ethical nursing care by the appropriate management of ethical issues in everyday nursing practice.

This paper was aimed to inquire into Ricoeur's self -hermeneutics and narrative ethics, and apply it to personal identity constituting caring and care ethics in the practice of nursing. Its purpose is to provide a philosophical foundation for caring in nursing.

According to Ricoeur's narrative identity, ontological caring was interpreted as personal identity constituting caring. His ethics were described as care ethics, which contributed to preserving and promoting the personal dignity of the client, as self in search for the good life in the nursing practice.

Narrative understanding of the client pointed to the ontological role of care in the constitution of personal identity. From an ethical aspect of the narrative, respect for personal identity and personal dignity of the client was crucial to an ethical caring attitude, promoting self-esteem in the nursing practice.

This paper suggested that Ricoeur's ethics could provide a philosophical basis for understanding ontological and ethical caring in nursing. This contributed to protection of the client from the threat of personal identity, as well as respecting their personal dignity.

Professional nursing ethics is a living, dynamic set of standards for nurses'professional moral behavior. Furthermore, in daily clinical nursing training, nursing students are constantly confronted with decisionmaking that is moral in nature. The aim of this study was to identify the perceived ethical attitudes in the clinical training process of senior nursing students using Q-methodology to offer basic strategies for nursing ethics education and thereby improve patients'care.

Q-methodology provides a scientific method for identifying perception structures that exist within certain individuals or groups. Thirty-seven participants in a university rated 38 selected Q-statements on a scale of 1-9. The collected data were analyzed using pc-QUNAL software.

Principal component analysis identified 3 types of ethical attitudes in nursing students in Korea. The categories were labeled Sacred-life, Science-realistic and Humane-life. Sacred-life individuals think that a life belongs to an absolute power (God), not a man, and a human life is a high and noble thing. Science-realistic individuals disagreed that allowing an induced abortion or embryo (human) duplication is unethical behavior that provokes a trend, which takes the value of a life lightly; most of them took a utilitarian position with respect to ethical decisions. Humane-life individuals exhibit a tendency toward human-centered thought with respect to ethical attitudes.

This study will be of interest to educators of students of nursing and hospital nursing administrators. Also, the findings may provide the basis for the development of more appropriate strategies to improve nursing ethics education programs.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the paths of influence that a hospital's ethical climate exerts on nurses' organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior, with supervisor trust as the mediating factor, and verify compatibility of the models in hospital nurses.

The sample consisted of 374 nurses recruited from four hospitals in 3 cities in Korea. The measurements included the Ethical Climate Questionnaire, Supervisor Trust Questionnaire, Organizational Commitment Questionnaire and Organizational Citizenship Behavior Questionnaire. Ethical Climate Questionnaire consisted of 6 factors; benevolence, personal morality, company rules and procedures, laws and professional codes, self-interest and efficiency. Data were analysed using SPSS version 18.0 and AMOS version 18.0.

Supervisor trust was explained by benevolence and self-interest (29.8%). Organizational commitment was explained by benevolence, supervisor trust, personal morality, and rules and procedures (40.4%). Organizational citizenship behavior was explained by supervisor trust, laws and codes, and benevolence (21.8%).

Findings indicate that managers need to develop a positive hospital ethical climate in order to improve nurses' trust in supervisors, organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior.

This paper was written to introduce methods of using the research ethics committee (RES) from requesting the initial review to reporting the close-out for nursing researchers.

General ethical principles were described by reviewing the 'Bioethics and Safety Act' and other related guidelines, and constructing some questions and answers.

The results were composed of three parts; definition of RES, steps in using RES, and archiving. The 7 steps for using RES were; identifying whether the study needed to be reviewed, by the RES identifying whether the study could be exempted, requesting the initial review after preparing documents, requesting the re-review, requesting an amendment review, requesting a continuing review and reporting the close-out.

Nursing researchers need to receive RES approval before starting nursing research involving human subjects. Nursing researchers are urged to use the steps reported in this paper to receive RES approval easily and quickly.

This study aimed to investigate the educational needs of research ethics among nursing researchers.

Convenience sample of 161 nursing professors and 262 master or doctoral nursing students participated in the study. Data was collected with self-reported questionnaire from June to August 2009, and analyzed with descriptive statistics using SPSS WIN (version 14.0).

Among 161 nursing professors, about 31.7% has educated nursing ethics in the postgraduate course. The most common course was nursing research or methodology (62.7%), and median education time was 2 hr. Areas that showed difficulty in understanding was the conflict of interest and plagiarism for professors and falsification and fabrication for graduate students. Average knowledge on the research ethics was 75.4 points for professors and 61.6 points for students based on the 100 points.

Educational needs of research ethics among nursing professors and students in the postgraduate course was high. We recommend both basic and advanced research ethics educational programs for the nursing researchers. The basic course should be at least 6 hr and include various cases and something to discuss.

The purpose of the study was to describe the experiences of do-not-resuscitate (DNR) among nurses.

Data were collected by in-depth interviews with 8 nurses in 8 different hospitals. Conventional qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the data.

Eight major themes emerged from the analysis: DNR decision-making bypassing the patient, inefficiency in the decision-making process of DNR, negative connotation of DNR, predominance of verbal DNR over written DNR, doubts and confusion about DNR, least amount of intervention in the decision for DNR change of focus in the care of the patient after a DNR order, and care burden of patients with DNR. Decision-making of DNR occurred between physicians and family members, not the patients themselves. Often high medical expenses were involved in choosing DNR, thus if choosing DNR it was implied the family members and health professionals as well did not try their best to help the patient. Verbal DNR permission was more popular in clinical settings. Most nurses felt guilty and depressed about the dying/death of patients with DNR.

Clearer guidelines on DNR, which reflect a family-oriented culture, need to be established to reduce confusion and to promote involvement in the decision-making process of DNR among nurses.