Despite an abundance of theoretical literature on virtue ethics in nursing and health care, very little research has been carried out to support or refute the claims made. One such claim is that ethical nursing is what happens when a good nurse does the right thing. The purpose of this descriptive, qualitative study was therefore to examine nurses' perceptions of what it means to be a good nurse and to do the right thing. Fifty-three nurses responded to two open-ended questions: (1) a good nurse is one who...; and (2) how does a nurse go about doing the right thing? Three hundred and thirty-one data units were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Seven categories emerged: personal characteristics, professional characteristics, patient centredness, advocacy, competence, critical thinking and patient care. Participants viewed ethical nursing as a complex endeavour in which a variety of decision-making frameworks are used. Consistent with virtue ethics, high value was placed on both intuitive and analytical personal attributes that nurses bring into nursing by virtue of the persons they are. Further investigation is needed to determine just who the 'good nurse' is, and the nursing practice and education implications associated with this concept.

If oncology healthcare professionals are to provide optimal treatment and care for elderly people, negative attitudes must be addressed. These results indicate the need for a radical cultural shift in attitudes, especially when considered in conjunction with changing demographics and increased cancer incidence with age.

Objective. To design and implement a demonstration project to teach interprofessional teams how to recognize and engage in difficult conversations with patients. Design. Interdisciplinary teams consisting of pharmacy students and residents, student nurses, and medical residents responded to preliminary questions regarding difficult conversations, listened to a brief discussion on difficult conversations; formed ad hoc teams and interacted with a standardized patient (mother) and a human simulator (child), discussing the infant's health issues, intimate partner violence, and suicidal thinking; and underwent debriefing. Assessment. Participants evaluated the learning methods positively and a majority demonstrated knowledge gains. The project team also learned lessons that will help better design future programs, including an emphasis on simulations over lecture and the importance of debriefing on student learning. Drawbacks included the major time commitment for design and implementation, sustainability, and the lack of resources to replicate the program for all students. Conclusion. Simulation is an effective technique to teach interprofessional teams how to engage in difficult conversations with patients.Keywords: simulation, standardized patients, interprofessional teams, communication INTRODUCTIONGraduates from health professional schools are expected to have competencies well beyond knowledge of drugs and diseases. A 2003 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report highlighted the need for health professional students to be educated to deliver patient-centered care, employ evidence-based practice, apply quality improvements, use informatics and practice in interdisciplinary teams as a way to improve patient safety.1 The 2007 Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (APCE) Accreditation Standards and Guidelines for the Professional Program in Pharmacy aligned the IOM report recommendations in terms of changes for pharmacy education. Specifically, the ACPE Standards state that graduates must be competent to deliver patient-centered care and to communicate and collaborate with patients, their caregivers, physicians, nurses, and other health care providers. Additionally, the Standards highlight the importance of students developing critical-thinking and problem-solving skills.The Pharmaceutical Care section of the 2007 Center for the Advancement of Pharmaceutical Education (CAPE) Guidelines includes educational outcomes related to communication with patients, caregivers, and other health professionals. Specifically, the CAPE Guidelines state that students should develop competency in fostering collaborative relationships that embodies teambased care, demonstrates a caring and respectful attitude, and communicates information in a way that patients and healthcare professionals understand in order to communicate ''clearly, accurately, compassionately, confidently, and persuasively. '' 3 The ACPE Standards encourage working with actual or simulated patients and health care professionals whenever possible during the ins...

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Students in an undergraduate legal and ethical issues course continually told the authors that they did not have time to study for the course because they were busy studying for their clinical courses. Faculty became concerned that students were failing to realize the value of legal and ethical concepts as applicable to clinical practice. This led the authors to implement a transformational learning experience in which students applied legal and ethical course content in a high-fidelity human simulation (HFHS) scenario. A preliminary evaluation compared the new HFHS experience with in-person and online student groups using the same case. Based on both student and faculty perceptions, the HFHS was identified as the best of the three approaches for providing a transformational learning experience regarding legal and ethical content.