[Nurses' ethical development]

The ethical development of a nurse by choices on different levels is discussed in this article. The article is based on the descriptions of 17 nurses. The first important is the choice of a profession. The ethically positive or negative experiences received as a nurse student make their effect on the second choice. The third one occurs on the level where a professional nurse makes his/her own decisions in which it could be necessary to work against the traditional working models. The fourth choice reinforces the former one on situations where the nurse in a goal-directed way enhances his/her readiness to work by fulfilling the values of nursing. In this process independence, courage and expert knowledge are emphasized.