[Ethical occurrences involving nursing staff and professionals: a quantitative approach].

This study aimed at identifying characteristics of ethical occurrences related to nursing care in a large private hospital in the city of São Paulo. There were 190 occurrences reported to the hospital's Nursing Ethical Committee (NEC) between 1995 and 2004. Most occurrences caused no damages to the patient, the health institution, the nursing staff or the professional involved. From the total of 398 procedures taken, 94.5% of the cases were advices given to nursing staff members by the NEC, including advice from the immediate superiors to the staff members involved. In 93.7% of the occurrences only one staff member was involved. Clinical units accounted for 76.3% of the services involved with ethical occurrences. As a result, it may be said that the study showed the importance of giving advices to the staff in order to prevent customers from damaging occurrences.