<b>Ethical dilemmas on teaching nursing home care</b> - DOI: 10.4025/cienccuidsaude.v8i4.6564

Abstract

In several situations, especially in home nursing caregiving, nurses must teach certain procedures of their practice without pondering the consequences that might bring about. Considering legal and ethical limits of that professional category, a descriptive-exploratory research study, with a qualitative approach, was carried out, objectifying: to identify procedures performed by home caregivers, which entail nurses legal competence; to discuss the performed procedures in the light of Nursing Professionals’ Ethics Code, Professional Work Law n.7498/86; to confront the duty of delivering health care and reassuring its continuity aiming at human beings’ promotion with the ban of lay caregivers carrying out nursing activities. Eight (8) home caregivers were interviewed, selected from the analysis of patients’ records integrating the “Program of Chronic Patients’ Management” of a private health institution in Curitiba/ Paraná State/ Brazil. Results showed that there are actually legal and ethical consequences for nurses, deeming necessary a better regulation of their professional practice as well.