Considering a growing nurse shortage and the need for qualified nurses to handle increasingly complex patient care situations, how ethical beliefs are influenced and the consequences that can occur when moral conflicts of right and wrong arise need to be explored. The aim of this study was to explore influencers identified by nurses as having the most impact on the development of their ethical beliefs and whether these influencers might impact levels of moral distress and the potential for conscientious objection. Nurses whose ethical beliefs were most influenced by their religious beliefs scored higher in levels of moral distress and demonstrated greater differences in areas of conscientious objection than did nurses who developed their ethical beliefs from influencers such as family values, life and work experience, political views or the professional code of ethics.

She oversees projects in freshman programs, math support, mentoring, outreach, and women's programs. She earned a B.S.E. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University and a master's degree in journalism from the University of California at Berkeley.

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A positive organizational culture and climate is closely associated with an affirming workplace and job satisfaction. Especially during a time of faculty shortages, academic leaders need to be cognizant of the culture and climate in schools of nursing. The culture of an organization affects employees, systems, and processes, and if the culture becomes problematic, transformational leadership is essential to create change. The purpose of this article is to describe an 8-year journey to change the culture and climate of a school of nursing from one of dissatisfaction and distrust to one of high employee satisfaction and trust. Kotter's model for transformational change was used to frame a longitudinal study using the Cultural and Climate Assessment Scale to transform the organizational culture and climate of a school of nursing.

This article describes the development, implementation, and preliminary psychometric testing of the Culture/Climate Assessment Scale (CCAS), designed and used by a school of nursing. The CCAS comprises 37 items arranged into five scales of communication, decision support, level of conflict, teamwork, and general work satisfaction, as well as three additional items that measure personal level of stress, perceived level of change, and overall level of morale. Faculty and staff completed the CCAS in three progressive administrations over a 5-year period to provide empirical data to chart the progress to improve the organizational culture and climate of one school of nursing. Preliminary testing of the CCAS supports its continued use in nursing education and other academic environments.