The Ethical Nurse by Mary Ann Siciliano McLaughlin Ed.D., RN

             Studies done with accelerated nursing students have found that this cohort of students is not only tech-savvy, experienced, and mature, but also exhibit generational differences than their faculty (Bowie & Camacho Carr, 2013). Cangelosi and Moss (2010) found two emerging themes from the faculty in accelerated nursing programs. The faculty felt as if they had to be at the top of their game to teach in accelerated programs because of the students’ level of intelligence, maturity, and lack of fear in questioning authority. Moreover, the faculty felt there was limited time for teaching accelerated students to think like nurses and socialize them into nursing (Cangelosi & Moss, 2010). The focus on accelerated programs in my study was critical because the number of accelerated programs continues to grow quickly in the United States (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2014)...

Good nursing practice requires knowledge, skill, and moral imagination. (Benner, Sutphen, Leonard, & Day, 2010, p. 166)   According to Crigger and Godfrey (2011), “Nursing practice occurs through a series of decisions; almost every decision and action of a nurse professional has an ethical import” (p. 59). Nurses are often at a crossroads and need to decide how they will act in a situation. Their decision will then result in a potentially favorable or unfavorable outcome for the patient. In nursing, this problem is further compounded by the lack of reaction time available and the immediate necessity to react to a situation at hand. Nurses need to be able to think on their feet at any given time and make the most prudent decisions they are capable of at every moment. This skill is honed as the nurse gains experience and confidence as a practicing professional. This nursing profession perspective provides the basis for how nurses execute the role of a ...

In an age of ever-changing technology, medical advances in care, and sicker patients who now live longer; nurses are experiencing the need to make a greater number of ethical decisions (Iacobucci, Daly, Lindell, & Griffin, 2012). The nursing profession is also further burdened by economics and a nursing shortage, which is likely to grow more pronounced as older nurses retire and the number of sicker patients to care for increases. These factors lead to time constraints in the care nurses are able to afford to patients. These limitations also cause nurses to feel stressed or unable to achieve ethical decision making as they wish to do at times (Ghebrehiwet, 2012; Iacobucci et al., 2012). Does this sentiment ring true in nurses?   Do you feel stressed making ethical decisions in light of these factors?   Are you too busy with caring for your patients to be able to make ethical decisions to your liking?   As always, I welcome comments and feedback...