Background: Ethics is an integral part of the nursing profession, forming the foundation thereof. Nursing ethics, therefore, is the foundation of ethical decision-making, aimed at informing nursing practitioners and the public of the ethical and moral principles applicable to nurse practitioners in the performance of their duties. Objective: This study explored and described the ethical issues faced by registered nurses in the selected public clinics of Mopani district in the Limpopo province. Methods: This study had a qualitative–explorative–descriptive study design. The study was conducted in selected public clinics of the greater Giyani municipalities in the Mopani district of the Limpopo province. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 registered nurses, with a focus on the ethical challenges that they encounter during patient care. All participants had more than five years working at the selected clinics and were between 25 and 60 years. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data. Measures to ensure trustworthiness and ethical considerations were taken throughout the study. Results: The registered nurses were found to be guided by the ethical and moral principles related to the performance of their duties. However, incidences of unethical behaviour were revealed in this study; these include doing harm to the patients by applying the incorrect vaccination technique and giving incorrect medication, as well as a lack of respect for patients’ dignity by sometimes exchanging harsh words with the patients, interfering with their religious and cultural believes, or breaching confidentiality by divulging patients’ diagnosis. Furthermore, balancing patient autonomy with medical advice and maintaining confidentiality while ensuring patient and public safety sometimes poses dilemmas to registered nurses. Moral distress arises when nurses feel unable to act in accordance with their values due to institutional constraints. Conclusions: Registered nurses must have a high level of respect for all individuals and act with dignity in their care and communication. It is important that patients’ families are also treated with respect, due to their relationship to the patient. Registered nurses must understand the ethical and professional guidelines regarding communication when working with colleagues and patients.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization, T.A.N.; methodology, T.A.N.; software, T.A.N.; validation, G.O.S. and L.E.M.; formal analysis, T.A.N. and G.O.S.; investigation, T.A.N.; resources, T.A.N.; data curation, T.A.N.; writing—original draft preparation, T.A.N., G.O.S. and L.E.M.; writing—review and editing, T.A.N., G.O.S. and L.E.M.; visualization, T.A.N.; supervision, G.O.S. and L.E.M.; project administration, T.A.N.; All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding
This research received no funding.
Institutional Review Board Statement
This study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Turfloop Research Ethics Committee (TREC)—(TREC/104/2025: PG) 18 March 2025.
Informed Consent Statement
Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. Written in-formed consent has been obtained from the participants to publish this paper.
Data Availability Statement
The datasets that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, T.A.N. Because the data contains information that could jeopardize the privacy of research participants, it is not publicly available.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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