Ethics in Turkish Nursing Education Programs

Abstract

This descriptive study investigated the current status of ethics instruction in Turkish nursing education programs. The sample for this study comprised 39 nursing schools, which represented 51% of all nursing schools in Turkey. Data were collected through a postal questionnaire. The results revealed that 18 of these nursing schools incorporated an ethics course into undergraduate and three into graduate level programs. Most of the educators focused on the basic concepts of ethics, deontological theory, ethical principles, ethical problems in health care, patient rights and codes of ethics for nurses. More than half of the educators believed that students' theoretical knowledge of ethics is applied to their clinical experiences. The teaching methods used included discussion in class, lectures, case studies, small group discussion, dramatization and demonstration. Assessment was carried out by means of written essays and written examinations.

Vaka analiz yönteminin hemşirelik öğrencilerinin etik sorun değerlendirme becerilerine etkisi

“…Calman and Downie (1987) explain that students must have enough knowledge to answer the case analysis questions and to participate in debates. Ethical decision-making is affected by beliefs and values (Görgülü & Dinç, 2007). It is important for students to recognize ethical problems and ethical dilemmas, and distinguish the hidden values and implicit value conflicts underlying them (Erdemir, Oğuz, Elçioğlu & Doğan, 2001).…”

“…The roles of nurses have broadened as science and technology and care has become more complex (Alpar, 2008;Görgülü & Dinç, 2007;Karadağ & Uçan, 2006;Keskin & Kıvanç, 2012). Therefore nurses must decide about their professional applications or must agree on many decisions within a team (Kaya & Memiş, 2002;Yılmaz, 2005;Tschudin, 2005).…”

“…They point out that in the literature there have been very few publications regarding this subject, so such decisions need to be taken by the academic person responsible for the course. Görgülü and Dinç (2007) explain how methods of class discussion (100%), lectures (89.4%), case studies (73.6%), small group discussion (36.8%) and dramatization (26.3%) were used in an ethics course in Turkey. In an ethics course, one of the important ways for students to separate ethical values and problems from other problem clusters and to learn how to evaluate ethical values and decision-making is to use the method of case analysis (Han & Ahn, 2000;Holland, 1999).…”

Students’ Perceptions Regarding the Third Year Nursing Ethics Module at Shifa College of Nursing, Islamabad, Pakistan

“…(Gorgülü and Dinc 2007). Research has proven that through formal ethics teaching nursing students' "moral reasoning" and capabilities were developed and they were better equipped to respond to ethical issues (Gorgülü and Dinc 2007). It has clearly been stated in the research that without formal ethics education, nurses will adopt "unjustifiable and uncritical" ways to make decisions.…”

“…The purpose of ethics teaching to nurses is to make them aware of the ethical issues encountered in the clinical setting and to enable them to respond to those issues in an ethical way too. (Gorgülü and Dinc 2007). Research has proven that through formal ethics teaching nursing students' "moral reasoning" and capabilities were developed and they were better equipped to respond to ethical issues (Gorgülü and Dinc 2007).…”