The impact of nursing education on ethical/moral decision making

A study of 227 baccalaureate and 111 master's nursing students was conducted to determine the influence of the level of formal education on three selected factors: ethical/moral reasoning, attribution of responsibility, and ethical/moral dilemma resolution. Moral development theory and Heider's attribution of responsibility construct provided the theoretical framework. A comparison of the overall index of ethical/moral reasoning showed that graduate students reasoned at a higher level than undergraduate students. The amount of attribution of responsibility assigned and the dilemma resolution score did not differ for the two groups. The results of this study suggest that undergraduate and graduate nursing programs must place more emphasis on identifying dilemmas, increasing ethical/moral reasoning levels and attributing responsibility in a justifiable manner. Nurse researchers must continue to study how nurses respond in dilemma situations and how personal characteristics, factors in the environment, education, and the assignment of responsibility affect nurses' ability to resolve ethical/moral dilemmas.