PREPARING STUDENTS FOR THE MORAL DIMENSION OF PROFESSIONAL NURSING PRACTICE: A PROTOCOL FOR NURSE EDUCATORS (ETHICS, PHILOSOPHY, EDUCATION).
Contributors: Columbia University. Teachers College.
Published: 1984
Number of pages: 178
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: This study was devised to answer two important questions in the moral education of future nursing professionals. Firstly, what is the nature of the moral dimension of professional nursing practice? Secondly, how can we as nurse educators prepare our students for this domain?.

Part I of this dissertation attempted to identify the nature of the moral dimension of professional nursing practice. With the use of a data gathering instrument, developed by the researcher, 150 nurses were asked to identify a moral situation they had encountered in their professional nursing practice. In addition, each study participant responded to questions concerning demographic information. The researcher then developed a category scheme for the moral situations obtained. Eleven categories emerged from the data; eight categories possessing moral themes and three categories emerged from the data; eight categories possessing moral themes and three categories possessing themes which are primarily non-moral ones. Each category was identified by a topical heading which was illustrative of the situations contained within that category.

Analysis of the data disclosed that the moral dimension of professional nursing practice for the nurses of this study, was a domain of great personal indecision and uncertainty. Often, what the nurse cited as a moral situation was merely a difference of opinion and did not possess clearly identified elements of moral concern. Frequently, even when the situation was clearly a moral situation, the nurse had difficulty identifying the moral elements inherent in the situation and in choosing an appropriate course of action. In many instances, the nurse appeared to be in a quandary as to what was the morally right thing to do in a given situation.

In Part II, the researcher developed a Protocol which, when utilized, enables the nurse educators to systematically integrate issues of moral concern (in the form of cases) into related subject content areas throughout the baccalaureate nursing curriculum. The protocol details a method to employ in the strategic placement of these issues within the nursing courses of a baccalaureate nursing curriculum. A representative curricular content pattern was selected to illustrate application of the developed protocol.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-08, Section: B, page: 2501.

Thesis (ED.D.)--COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY TEACHERS COLLEGE, 1984.

School code: 0055.