Teaching Moral Reasoning to Student Nurses

Ethical problems are continuing to expand in health care due to conflicts of technology and value. This study investigated what kind of ethical problems nurses face in clinical situations and what process they use in deciding on actions to take. Ethical theories in justice and caring were explored. Qualitative research was used and ethnographic analysis was conducted with six staff nurses from three clinical areas. An analysis of the data yielded an overarching theme of 'Suffering and ethical caring: incompatible entities'. Six domains were identified: informant definitions, preceding conditions, actions taken, intervening variables, risks and recommendations. Future research is needed in the field of client and family suffering and pain.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Suffering and Ethical Caring: incompatible entities

Leners

Beardslee

1997

“…Although ethics has been part of the nursing curriculum in the UK since the 1900s, many nursing graduates today appear to lack the knowledge, skills and confidence to be ethically sensitive practitioners. 5 Such deficits can limit their effectiveness in terms of providing quality nursing care.…”

Section: The Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Ethical Reasoning Observed: a longitudinal study of nursing students

Nolan

Markert

2002

All nursing courses in the UK include ethics in the curriculum, although there is considerable variation in the content of ethics courses and the teaching methods used to assist the acquisition of ethical reasoning.The effectiveness of ethics courses continues to be disputed, even when the perceptions and needs of students are taken into account in their design. This longitudinal study, carried out in the UK, but with implications for nurse education in other developed countries, explored the ethical understanding of nursing students and changes in their understanding and approaches to practice over their four years of training (1995-1999). The data collection tools were a questionnaire originally piloted prior to the 1995 study, from which the present study developed, and five vignettes describing ethical dilemmas in health care also piloted in 1995. Students' thinking progressed as they became more mature as individuals and professionals, although this progress was not necessarily in the direction of greater certainty. Suggestions are made to help nurse educators to maximize the effectiveness of ethics courses in transmitting the skills of ethical reasoning.

“…Nursing students and professionals have reported difficulties and insufficient confidence in applying their ethical knowledge when it comes to making ethical decisions in clinical cases. 7 –9 Nurses’ participation in ethics discussions has been reported as being much lower than expected. 3 While the content of nursing ethics courses appears to show considerable agreement among similar courses internationally, 10,11 instructional methods to effectively train ethical decision-making are still in the process of development.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Nursing Ethics 20 (8) 948 their prior answers or print it out to share with peers for the purpose of discussion or to submit it to an instructor in the case of their seeking individualized feedback. Fourth, once learners choose an alternative for resolving an ethical case and then take one of the relevant actions, the outcomes of the chosen alternative and an action are virtually simulated in the program, letting learners indirectly experience how their decision appears in a real situation or influences a patient, a family, or an institution.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The development and implications of a case-based computer program to train ethical decision-making

Park

2013

To effectively train ethical decision-making of nursing students, a case-based computer program was developed using Flash animation. Seven ethical cases collected from practicing registered nurses' actual clinical experiences and a six-step Integrated Ethical Decision-Making Model developed by the author were employed in the program. In total, 251 undergraduate students from three nursing schools used the program in their nursing ethics course. The usability of the program and its usefulness in improving 11 abilities needed in ethical decision-making were measured; it scored higher than 4 on a 5-point scale. Of the students, 82% recommended the program as a valuable complementary tool in the teaching of a nursing ethics course. A variety of encouraging and positive experiences were reported by the students. The computer program is likely to be usefully practical in the training of abstract skills to nursing students, though certain challenges remain, such as the precise understanding of cognitive or affective responses to ethical issues.