Ethics Education for Nurses: Foundations for an Integrated Curriculum

Abstract

Background: Complexity in health care environments causes practice problems. Nurses bear responsibility for recognizing, addressing, and preventing ethical problems. Inadequacies in ethics education are partly to blame and contribute to nurse moral distress, attrition, and suboptimal care. Foundational curricula structures adequate for developing nurse moral agency are needed. Method: The state of the science of ethics education in nursing was explored in-depth by a subcommittee of the American Nurses Association Ethics Advisory Board. A framework based in nursing goals was designed by nurse ethics experts to address ethics education across levels of curricula and practice. Rest’s four-component model of moral behavior structures guidelines. Results: The model captures three facets of nurse moral agency: necessary characteristics, knowledge and skills, and motivation. A case is provided to illustrate its utility. Conclusion: This framework provides the means to meet the profession’s goal of preparing ethically competent nurses who will exercise moral agency. [J Nurs Educ. 2022;61(3):123–130.]