2025 Volume 17 Issue 1 Pages 58-65
Purpose: This study aimed to provide an overview of research outcomes in Japan regarding the thinking processes that lead nurses to choose clinical conduct and to elucidate the associated issues, focusing on daily nursing practice scenarios involving ethical conflicts. Method: We selected relevant literature from CiNii Research and the “Igaku Chuo Zasshi (ICHUSHI)” web version, based on eligibility and exclusion criteria. We then extracted, summarized, and examined descriptions of nurses’ decision making processes in ethical conflict situations and the thinking processes leading to them. Results: A total of 21 studies were selected for analysis. Discussion: Previous research has shown that nurses’ choices regarding clinical conduct in daily practice situations involving ethical conflicts follow a circular thinking process centered on patients and their families. This process is influenced by nurses’ experiential knowledge, values, beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and the organizational environment, including the nursing and healthcare teams. The challenge lied in developing a research methodology that ensured reproducibility and validity.
