[Ethics training of nurses: what is the Portuguese reality?]

Recognizing the existence of education policies that guide the teaching of Ethics in Nursing, our aim was to know the reality of the initial training of nurses in Portugal. The conceptual framework was accomplished in the consultation and the complete documents' readings (especially the recommendations of the Portuguese Order of Nurses), crossed with foundational conceptions of Nursing Ethics and Philosophy authors, in particular Watson and Mounier. Some of the conclusions of this study relate to the verification that only five establishments comply with the Order of Nurses recommendations regarding the teaching of Ethics and Deontology. There is also a variability of classifications assigned to subjects/courses and program content/curriculum, embedded in them; there is a large discrepancy in the workload assigned to different curriculum areas.