Nursing’s professional respect as experienced by hospital and community nurses

Stievano, A; Bellass, S; Rocco, G; Olsen, D; Sabatino, L; Johnson, M

Abstract

Background: There is growing awareness that patient care suffers when nurses are not respected. Therefore, to improve outcomes for patients, it is crucial that nurses operate in a moral work environment that involves both recognition respect, a form of respect that ought to be accorded to every single person, and appraisal respect, a recognition of the relative and contingent value of respect
modulated by the relationships of the healthcare professionals in a determined context.
Research question/aim: The purpose of this study was to develop better understandings of perceptions of nursing’s professional respect in community and hospital settings in England.
Research design: The research design was qualitative. Focus groups were chosen as the most appropriate method for eliciting discussion about nursing’s professional respect.
Participants and research context: A total of 62 nurses who had been qualified for at least a year and
were working in two localities in England participated in this study.
Methods: Data were collected using 11 focus group sessions. The data were analysed by means of an inductive content analysis, extracting meaning units from the information retrieved and classifying the arising phenomena into conceptually meaningful categories and themes.
Ethical considerations: To conduct the research, permission was obtained from the selected
universities.
Results: Recognition respect of human beings was perceived as ingrained in the innermost part of nurses.
Regarding appraisal respect, a great importance was placed on: the interactions among healthcare professionals, the time to build trust in these relationships, the influences of the workplace characteristics and nurses’ professional autonomy and decision-making.
Conclusion: Recognition respect of persons was embedded in the inmost part of nurses as individuals.
Concerning appraisal respect, it was thought to be deeply enshrined in the inter- and intra-healthcare professional interactions. The forging of trusting relationships over time was deemed to be strongly associated with good quality interactions with other healthcare professionals.
Keywords
Appraisal respect, inter/intra-professional relationships, nursing, professional ethics, recognition, respect, topic areas, workplace environments

Citation

Stievano, A., Bellass, S., Rocco, G., Olsen, D., Sabatino, L., & Johnson, M. (2016). Nursing’s professional respect as experienced by hospital and community nurses. Nursing Ethics, 25(5), 665-683. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733016664972

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Sep 12, 2016
• Publication Date: Sep 12, 2016
• Deposit Date: Sep 19, 2016
• Journal: Nursing Ethics
• Print ISSN: 0969-7330
• Electronic ISSN: 1477-0989
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Volume: 25
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 665-683
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733016664972
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0969733016664972
• Related Public URLs: http://nej.sagepub.com
• Additional Information: Funders : IPASVI (Centre of Excellence for Nursing Scholarship, Rome); Projects : Nursing professional respect; Grant Number: The study was supported by a grant from the Centre of Excellence for Nursing Scholarship in Italy (Research Grant number 2.10.03).