Ethical Dilemmas for Nursing Students and Faculty: In Their Own Voices

AIM The aim of this national study was to explore student and faculty personal experiences of ethical dilemmas in nursing education and clinical practice. BACKGROUND Nurses encounter complex ethical dilemmas in practice that can lead to moral distress when they cannot do the right thing because of external constraints. METHOD A mixed-methods study via online survey was conducted on senior nursing student members and faculty advisors of the National Student Nurses Association. Over 1,600 students and 600 faculty answered a two-minute survey with the question: Please describe an ethical dilemma you have experienced. RESULTS Descriptive statistics demonstrated a difference in student and faculty reports about the ethics content they received. The qualitative results from constant comparison of open-ended questions also supported differences in themes from student and faculty perspectives. CONCLUSION This study supports that students and faculty voice their concerns with different ethical dilemmas in their nursing education experiences.

Automated summary

This study found differences in the ethics content received by students and faculty, and supported the idea that students and faculty experience different ethical dilemmas in their nursing education experiences.