Exploring the heart of ethical nursing practice: implications for ethics education

The limitations of rational models of ethical decision making and the importance of nurses' human involvement as moral agents is increasingly being emphasized in the nursing literature. However, little is known about how nurses involve themselves in ethical decision making and action or about e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nursing ethics 2004, Vol.11 (3), p.240-253
Main Authors: Doane, Gweneth, Pauly, Bernadette, Brown, Helen, McPherson, Gladys
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bioethics
Canada
Decision Making - ethics
Education
Ethics
Ethics, Nursing - education
Focus Groups
Health Care Surveys
Humans
Morals
Nurse Practitioners - psychology
Nursing
Nursing Care - ethics
Nursing Process - ethics
Professional Practice - ethics
Students, Nursing - psychology
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Summary:The limitations of rational models of ethical decision making and the importance of nurses' human involvement as moral agents is increasingly being emphasized in the nursing literature. However, little is known about how nurses involve themselves in ethical decision making and action or about educational processes that support such practice. A recent study that examined the meaning and enactment of ethical nursing practice for three groups of nurses (nurses in direct care positions, student nurses, and nurses in advanced practice positions) highlighted that humanly involved ethical nursing practice is also simultaneously a personal process and a socially mediated one. Of particular significance was the way in which differing role expectations and contexts shaped the nurses' ethical practice. The study findings pointed to types of educative experiences that may help nurses to develop the knowledge and ability to live in and navigate their way through the complex, ambiguous and shifting terrain of ethical nursing practice.
ISSN:0969-7330
1477-0989
DOI:10.1191/0969733004ne692oa