Ethical reasoning in baccalaureate nursing students
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Using Learning Outcome Measures to assess Doctoral Nursing Education
Published on: June 21, 2010
Lynn Clark Callister1, Karlen E Luthy, Pam Thompson
1Brigham Young University College of Nursing, Provo, UT 84602, USA. lynn_callister@byu.edu
Abstract:
Nurses are encountering an increasing number of ethical dilemmas in clinical practice. Ethics courses for baccalaureate nursing students provide the opportunity for the development of critical thinking skills in order to deal with these effectively. The purpose of this descriptive qualitative study was to describe ethical reasoning in 70 baccalaureate nursing students enrolled in a nursing ethics course. Reflective clinical journals were analyzed as appropriate for qualitative inquiry. The overriding theme emerging from the data was 'in the process of becoming', which includes: practicing as a professional, lacking the confidence as a student nurse to take an ethical stand, advocating for patients, being just in the provision of care, identifying the spiritual dimensions of nursing practice, confronting the 'real world' of health care, making a commitment to practice with integrity, and caring enough to care. The development of critical thinking and ethical reasoning within the framework of knowing and connecting is essential in nursing education.
Related Concept Videos
Ethical Dilemmas I
Let us explore some examples to understand the potentially complex moral decisions nurses face.
Take the case of caring for minors, particularly in areas related to reproductive...
Ethical Issues
Ethical Concerns in Healthcare:
Nursing Code of Ethics
Nursing Ethical Principles I
Autonomy
Autonomy underscores the significance of a patient's self-determination and freedom from external control. In healthcare, respecting the...
Nursing Ethical Principles II
Consider the following scenario, which illustrates how these principles are applied in the care of Mr. John, a fifty-year-old teacher diagnosed with metastatic liver cancer.
Initially, Mr. John's cancer...
Critical Thinking I