Abstract

The purpose of this study was the in-depth inquiry into nurse educators' perceptions of ethics teaching in baccalaureate nursing curricula. Three areas of ethics teaching in baccalaureate nursing education were explored: how moral philosophy and ethics principles were integrated into curricula, how teaching strategies were used in ethics teaching, and how educational leadership impacted ethics teaching in baccalaureate nursing education. ;Five colleges of nursing in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, and Wisconsin, representing two public universities, two religious-affiliated universities, and one private secular university, comprised the units of analysis for this study. Group interviews were conducted at each site. ;Several themes emerged from this study. Ethics of cultural care was the preferred philosophy at all colleges of nursing, and moral philosophy courses were delivered using intra- or interdisciplinary approaches. Exploration of the second question resulted in several themes: The first three levels in Bevis' typology of learning were reflected in classroom teaching strategies, syntactical learning opportunities were provided in clinical rotations and outcome evaluations, students' clinical observations were the source of material for ethical discussions, and ethical decision models were rarely used. Themes associated with the third question, educational leadership, revealed that organizational culture and leadership practices both influenced the teaching of ethics. ;Several implications for nursing education emerged from this study. The nurse educators' stories at colleges using the interdisciplinary approach were richer, fuller, and more specific. Thus, the findings indicate that interdisciplinary courses to present moral philosophy and ethics principles may be worthy of consideration. Barriers to ethics teaching in this study were essentially the same as those identified by other researchers. In addition, the absence of ethical decision models was perplexing in light of the importance placed on decision models in other areas of nursing practice. Findings also indicate that cultural care ethics was grounded in Western philosophy. Non-Western philosophy was not evident in the nurse educators' stories, although both Western and non-Western philosophies are essential for practice in diverse cultures. Although these findings are not generalizable to other populations, they contribute to the pool of information available on ethics teaching in baccalaureate nursing education