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Aims: This study aimed to investigate barriers in the observation of professional ethics during clinical care from a nursing viewpoint. Also, it examined the association between these barriers and nurse demographic variables. Methods: A descriptive-analytic design was carried out on 207 nurses working in selected hospitals within an urban area of Iran in 2019. Data were collected using a standard questionnaire containing 33 questions that measured barriers to observation of professional ethics. The questionnaire measures three domains of management, environment and individual care. Results: In the management dimension, the most important barrier preventing observation of professional ethics was the shortage of personnel. For the environmental dimension, biological changes due to working on the nightshift, and for the individual care dimension, a lack of time were the most important barriers preventing observation of clinical ethics. Findings additionally highlighted a significantly inverse association between barriers to observing professional ethics and the male gender, participating in the ethics workshop and high work-level experiences. Conclusions: It is suggested that nursing managers in hospitals correct and remove obstacles with careful planning and emphasis on principles and standards of care including environmental and managerial factors and training professional ethics to nurses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Observing the criteria of professional ethics is an innate trait of nursing profession by which an individual gets committed to perform appropriately so that make no harm to the clients and improve their health status. This study aimed to determine barriers to observe professional ethics from nurses' viewpoints in year 2012. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on a census sample of nurses working in hospitals affiliated to Jahrom University of Medical Sciences (n=152). Data gathering tool was a researcher-made questionnaire about three categories of barriers to compliance with professional ethics standards, including “managerial”, “environmental” and “individual care-giving” obstacles. Data was analyzed by calculating frequency of responses to items, and weighted frequencies in each category. Results: Most responders agreed to the barrier role of environmental (68.5%), individual care-giving (62.7%) and managerial (61.6%) items in meeting ethical standards in practice. The most important barriers were lack of staff (80.3%) regarding management area, overcrowded wards (75.6%) considering environmental area, and failure in fulfillment of basic needs such as sufficient income or enough break-time for nursing staffs (84.8%). Conclusion: Environmental areas were the most important barriers of compliance with professional ethics. Therefore it is recommended that health organizations especially hospitals put emphasis on principles and standards of health care, including environmental factors via precise planning, drawing attention to importance of professional ethics in patients' recovery, advantages of regarding these ethics and disadvantages of violating them, as well as providing desirable situation for nurses to overcome these barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]