Abstract

Background: Many nurses encounter morally and ethically difficult situations in their professional duties. Associate degree nurses (ADN) often have graduated from programs focusing on preparatory entry level clinical nursing skills, but with limited preparation on healthcare ethics. New nurses often develop critical thinking skills when evaluating clinical situations, including ethical situations. In ethical dilemmas, ADNs may only have the knowledge they have gained from their clinical experiences to guide them. Stressful situations for which they are under prepared have caused nurses job dissatisfaction, burnout and abandonment of the profession.
Methods: A quantitative, descriptive, exploratory design was utilized to understand the ADNs’ knowledge of ethics. A 20-question survey was e-mailed to all ADN students enrolled in an on-line ethics course through SurveyMonkey®. Data were downloaded and analyzed employing frequency statistics.
Results: Eighty-three percent were female and 80% of the subjects had practiced nursing less than five years, mainly in the hospital setting. Over 70% ranged in age from 26 to 45 years old. More than half of the subjects noted they had received some form of healthcare ethics training in their ADN program. However, 40% were only somewhat satisfied with, and over 25% were not satisfied with, their previous training. Over 90% expressed interest in receiving more training. More than 90% of the nurses reported encountering ethically challenging situations in their work; 90% believed they had come across morally distressing situations. Only two nurses had ever been subpoenaed to testify. Students had difficulty with a question concerning the difference between ethics and values.
Conclusion: Results indicate that ADNs have had some ethical training, but they wanted more education. Future educational interventions can be generated with this knowledge to better prepare and assist ADNs.