The use of classroom debates can be helpful in teaching ethical content that is often nebulous and difficult for students to comprehend and apply. Debates enhance critical thinking skills through researching issues and developing a stance that can be supported in scientific literature. The authors describe a student debate project involving ethical issues with chronically ill clients. Many students changed their views during the debates. Students evaluated the debates as a positive learning experience.

Aesthetic knowing can help students gain a deeper understanding of a client's life with chronic illness. Simply asking clients to describe what their illness means is not enough. Having clients express themselves through a form such as a drawing, poetry, song, pictures, letters, or any form comfortable to the clients often reveals critical information that can change the direction of planned nursing care. This article presents the process and outcomes of asking nursing students to do an aesthetic project with one of their clients whose case they managed in the community during the semester.