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Aim To summarize and evaluate the nursing virtue ethics literature, examine how virtue ethics has been applied to health care teams, offer a new framework to guide understanding and development of virtuous health care teams and offer recommendations to nurse leaders. Background With the unprecedented levels of incivility and turnover in the post‐COVID‐19 world, virtue ethics may provide an innovative approach for nursing leaders working to rebuild healthy practice environments. Evaluation An integrative review yielded articles from eight databases using PRISMA guidelines. Level of evidence and quality were assessed using the Johns Hopkins tools. Key Issues Virtue ethics has been of interest to the health care community predominantly as a concept. Most articles focused on debating whether virtue ethics belongs in nursing. Virtue ethics offers a creative strategy for leaders to attract and retain nurses. Conclusion There is a dearth of research on virtue ethics and nursing. One study empirically uncovered and validated a framework for virtue ethics in health care teams. Implications for Nursing Management To rebuild strong health care teams, nurse leaders can model virtue ethics using an empirically derived framework while coaching their teams to do the same. Doing so holds the promise of reengaging staff and rebuilding healthy practice environments.

Background: Empathic communication has numerous patient benefits, yet many nurses do not possess or utilize empathic communication skills.Purpose: This study compared the efficacy of 2 low-cost, low-resource-intensive interventions to increase nursing students' use of empathic communication. Methods: The study was a randomized controlled trial with a pretest, posttest, and 3-month follow-up test. Participants were assigned to 1 of 4 groups: weekly empathic communication email reminders, an empathic communication quick reference guide, both, or neither. Results: All groups showed a significant increase in empathic communication between the pretest and posttest. The group that received emails only showed a significant increase above and beyond the control group. None of the groups significantly increased or decreased their empathic communication between the posttest and 3-month follow-up test. Conclusions: Weekly empathic communication email reminders can increase nursing students' use of empathic communication above and beyond traditional lectures and class activities.

The Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index, a widely used practice environment instrument, does not measure vital coworker interrelations. Team virtuousness measures coworker interrelations, yet the literature lacks a comprehensive instrument built from a theoretical foundation that captures the structure. This study sought to develop a comprehensive measure of team virtuousness built from Aquinas' Virtue Ethics Theory that captures the underlying structure. Subjects included nursing unit staff and master of business administration (MBA) students. A total of 114 items were generated and administered to MBA students. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were run on randomly split halves. Based on analyses, 33 items were subsequently administered to nursing unit staff. EFA and CFA were repeated on randomly split halves; CFA item loadings replicated EFA. Three components emerged from the MBA student data: integrity, α = .96; group benevolence, α = .70; and excellence, α = .91. Two components emerged from the nursing unit data: wisdom, α = .97; and excellence, α = .94. Team virtuousness varied significantly among units and correlated significantly with engagement. The two component instrument, named the Perceived Trustworthiness Indicator, is a comprehensive measure of team virtuousness built from a theoretical framework that captures the underlying structure, demonstrates adequate reliability and validity, and measures coworker interrelations on nursing units. Forgiveness and relational and inner harmony emerged as elements of team virtuousness, broadening understanding.

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