VIRTUE ETHICS IN THE CARE OF COVID-19 PATIENTS IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS IN LIMA, PERU

Abstract

Objectives: To describe and understand the virtue ethics used by nurses in the care of patients with COVID-19 in public hospitals in Lima, Peru. Materials and Methods: Qualitative study with a descriptive-interpretive design. The study subjects were twelve female nurses working in COVID-19 areas and fifteen discharged COVID-19 patients. The sample was obtained by saturation and redundancy, and snowball sampling. For data collection, a semi-structured interview was used, validated by the judgment of 4 experts, pilot tested and applied through Zoom platform, video call on WhatsApp and phone calls. The information was processed using thematic content analysis: pre-analysis, coding and categorization. The principles of scientific and ethical
rigor were applied. Results: Three categories were obtained: 1) virtue as a decisive and reflective guide to correct action with people affected by COVID-19, 2) materialization of virtue during COVID-19 patient care, and
3) realities and connotations of virtue ethics during COVID-19 patient care. Conclusion: Virtue ethics among
nurses demonstrates the delivery of good and correct care even during a pandemic. It was shown that virtuebased nursing care leads to compassion, warmth, demonstrates interest and fidelity, and creates trust in the patient. The practice of virtue ethics strengthens the vocation to service and prevents falling into criminal acts and malpractice.