TY - JOUR AU - Pettersson, Mona AU - Hedström, Mariann AU - Höglund, Anna T. PY - 2018 DA - 2018/06/19 TI - Ethical competence in DNR decisions –a qualitative study of Swedish physicians and nurses working in hematology and oncology care JO - BMC Medical Ethics SP - 63 VL - 19 IS - 1 AB - DNR decisions are frequently made in oncology and hematology care and physicians and nurses may face related ethical dilemmas. Ethics is considered a basic competence in health care and can be understood as a capacity to handle a task that involves an ethical dilemma in an adequate, ethically responsible manner. One model of ethical competence for healthcare staff includes three main aspects: being, doing and knowing, suggesting that ethical competence requires abilities of character, action and knowledge. Ethical competence can be developed through experience, communication and education, and a supportive environment is necessary for maintaining a high ethical competence. The aim of the present study was to investigate how nurses and physicians in oncology and hematology care understand the concept of ethical competence in order to make, or be involved in, DNR decisions and how such skills can be learned and developed. A further aim was to investigate the role of guidelines in relation to the development of ethical competence in DNR decisions. SN - 1472-6939 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-018-0300-7 DO - 10.1186/s12910-018-0300-7 ID - Pettersson2018 ER -