NSE 112 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Family Caregivers, Dementia, Nursing Ethics
Document Summary
Nursing ethics courses provide the opportunity for nursing students to develop critical thinking skills to deal with the dilemmas they may encounter as students and after they graduate and enter the work force. Ethical reasoning may be defined as discovering what is real. It seeks truth, fosters ethical decision making, and leads to ethical nursing practice. Moral reckoning has been defined as when nurses critically and emotionally reflect on motivations, choices, actions, and [the] consequences of a troubling patient care situation". Ethical sensitivity in clinical practice enables professionals to recognize, interpret, and respond appropriately to the concerns of those receiving professional services". Heath concluded that theory and experiences leading to reflective practice result in students becoming competent, proficient, and engaging in expert nursing actions". The ability of student nurses to incorporate ethical decision making into clinical practice is of concern because they are inexperienced and may lack confidence in their ability to provide quality care.
