Ethics, or Ethics for Nurses?

jerryh55 · Nov 13, 2005

ethics was a required course during our first semster in nursing school, but it was ethics for nursing. Ethics in the nursing field seem to me to be much more complicated than the regular world. So I would think ethics for nursing to be more in-line with what we as nurses will need.. Hope this helps.

Be Safe

Jerry

talaxandra · Nov 13, 2005

General ethics courses look at the philosophical underpinning of how we ought to live our lives - this may include the theories of Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Kant, Mill, Hume, and modern philosophers. Some moral philosophers look at how individuals ought to behave, while others think about what behaiour and policies are best for populations. Significant topics in moral philosphy include theological imperatives, freedom/rights and responsibilities, the relationship of morality and religion, the enforcement of morals, and moral education.

Ethics courses for health care professionals usually focus on health care ethics (also known as medical ethics, health ethics and bioethics). The core is Beauchamp + Childress' principles (justice, beneficence, non-maleficence and autonomy), but other perspectives are also examined. Noteworthy cases where practitioners did not behave ethically (like the Tuskegee syphilis study, and New Zealand's 'unfortunate experiment') are sometimes examined, and coursework may include less extreme real life examples. Significnt topics in health ethics include issues in reproductive technologies, genetics, AIDS, withholding vs withdrawing treatment, and questions of abortion and euthanasia.

Without knowing the curriculum I couldn't say for certain which would be most useful. To help you decide, think about what you hope to get out of the course - if you want a course that may add a dimension to your practice then health ethics is useful; if you want an overview of moral philosophy, adn a challenge to assumptions you may have unconsciously made about how life is best lived, then a general ethics course may be better.

In my experience nurses tend to find health ethics irrelevant, but when I tal with my colleagues a substantial percentage of the issues they have at work have an ethical component. The problem is two-fold: that the nurses don't have a language to express their concerns, and that the theory they were taught isn't easily applicable tot heir situation. And I'm certainly not blaming them - I had a case that was so ethcally troubling I wrote my first Masters' thesis on it, but despite my grad dip in bioethics I didn't realise at the time that that was the problem until it was all over!

unknown99, BSN, RN · Nov 13, 2005

I took bioethics. It was awesome!! It dealt with today's controversial issues such as PAS, the right to die, the right to receive healthcare, genetics testing, etc... It was the best course I have ever had to take to get my BSN. I wish there were more like it.

TrojanPrincess · Nov 13, 2005

Thanks Everyone! I have another appointment with my advisor tomorrow.