Purpose/Context.

This article presents different types of bioethics committees, looks through their history, and delves into the role of nursing in these settings.

Methodology/Approach.

Bioethics committees deal with moral dilemmas arising in health sciences, biological sciences, and innovative health policies. While their structure should be multidisciplinary for a broad approach to emerging situations, it does not always happen in practice. We will focus on analyzing what nurses' experience is like within committees and the barriers they face when joining these teams.

Results/Findings.

We found difficulties in the participation of nurses in committees due to a lack of time, recognition, and support by institutions, colleagues, and superiors, no specific training, and confusion between ethical and legal issues. A dispersion was also detected in Argentine legislation on the subject.

Discussion/Conclusions/Contributions.

Greater recognition and support from institutions, colleagues, and superiors is necessary for the participation of nursing professionals to be effective.

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