Clarification of ethical principle of the beneficence in nursing care: an integrative review

BackgroundEthics-based nursing practice can transform health care practices. As the biggest human capital in the health care system, nurses are obliged to follow ethical principles in this field. One of these ethical principles; is beneficence, which is considered the core of nursing care. This study aimed to investigate clarification of the principle of beneficence in nursing care and its related challenges.MethodsThis integrative review was conducted using the Whittemore & Knafl method in 5 stages, including problem identification, searching the literature, evaluating primary sources, analyzing data, and presenting the results. Databases like SID, Irandoc, Magiran, Google Scholar, Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus were searched using the keywords; beneficence, ethic, nursing and care in English and Persian in the time range of 2010 to 10 February, 2023. After applying inclusion criteria and assessing the articles using Bowling's Quality Assessment Tool, finally, 16 papers were included from 984.ResultsAfter reviewing and evaluating the qualified articles, the findings were classified into four main categories: (1) nature, (2) applicability, (3) Relevant and influential factors, and (4) challenges related to the ethical principle of beneficence in nursing care.ConclusionBased on the results of this review it seems that paying attention to clarification the principle of beneficence in nursing care can provide positive outcomes for patients to benefit from this principle and finally, it leads to increasing the well-being and health of patients, reducing their mortality rate, increasing satisfaction and maintaining the respect and human dignity of patients.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the principle of beneficence in nursing care and its related challenges. After reviewing and evaluating the qualified articles, the findings were classified into four main categories: nature, applicability, relevant and influential factors, and challenges related to the ethical principle of beneficence in nursing care. The results suggest that clarifying the principle of beneficence in nursing care can provide positive outcomes and promote the well-being and health of patients.