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

I am very excited to present my first guest blog written by a dear colleague. Today's guest blog author is Dr. Lynn Stover Nichols . We met quite a few years ago through, our involvement with, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Faculty Leadership Network (FLN). We bonded early on through our love of ethics and nursing education.  BIO for Dr. Lynn Stover Nichols PhD, RN, PED-BC, SANE, ANEF Dr. Lynn Stover Nichols PhD, RN, PED-BC, SANE, ANEF, is an Associate Professor of Nursing at Boise State University in Boise, Idaho. Her nursing education experience spans several decades and includes both undergraduate and graduate programs. She implemented the  Ethics Café  program for two years at the University of Alabama at Birmingham as an Honors College Faculty Fellow, where she taught a Freshman Honors Seminar, Ethical Issues in Women’s Health. The Case for Ethics in Nursing Education The nature of the work of the registered nurse provides limitless opport...

 ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses 2025  Provision 1: The nurse practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and unique attributes of every person.  The post today will focus on the  inherent dignity of patients. This idea of dignity came through loud and clear in the stories told to me by nurses while completing phenomenological interviews for my dissertation research. The nurses I interviewed spoke about treating patients with dignity, especially in the face of death. (Please refer to my ethics model below the post.)  One story that stuck out to me was from a nurse that stayed in the room talking with a patient while working night shift.  This patient had cancer and was out of all viable treatment options. The only choice now was to be a part of a new drug trial.  The patient did not want to do the trial, but his wife and daughter wanted him to, as his daughter was scheduled to get married the following year. They so desperatel...