Evaluating the Views and Suggestions of Educators on Ethics Education in Nursing

Abstract

INTRODUCTION[|]This study was conducted to reveal the current situation regarding ethical issues or courses in the nursing undergraduate program and to evaluate the experiences and suggestions of the nursing undergraduate program educators about ethical education.[¤]METHODS[|]This research is a descriptive quantitative study that includes the opinions and suggestions of the educators. The universe of the research was created by educators of the nursing department of universities where there are nursing undergraduate programs within the borders of Turkey. In this context, an electronic survey link was sent to 1000 educators via e-mail, and the application was completed with 200 participants. Frequency and percentage distributions, Chi-Square, Fisher's Exact test and Pearson Chi-Square test were used in the analysis of the data.[¤]RESULTS[|]In the study where the majority of the participants were lecturers (39%), educators who are nurses constitute 95.5% of the study. According to the analyzes, 19.5% of the participants conduct an independent ethics course and 51.5% of them teach an ethical subject within the scope of any course. It was determined that 69.2% of those who conducted the ethics course received formal training on ethics, and 78.4% attended courses, congresses and seminars on ethics. In addition, 42.1% of those who teach ethics are working in the 'Principles of Nursing' department. According to the results, 67% of participants have a separate ethics course in their institution, in which ethical issues are explained and in 78.4% of participants' institutions, the ethics course is included as a 'mandatory' course. [¤]DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION[|]The information and suggestions obtained from the participants who provide ethics training will guide all stakeholders and decision-making mechanisms on the subject. In the light of the results obtained in the study; A core curriculum for nursing ethics education should be created based on the ethical problems faced by nurses. Although it remains a separate course, the field of Nursing should also be integrated into other course topics. In particular, priority should be given to issues that are considered to contribute to the development of ethical education in nursing, such as the need to continue ethical education in clinical practice.[¤]

Keywords

• ethics
• ethics education; nursing; nursing education; nursing ethics