Nursing Ethics Questions

[Whitney T.]

Hi everyone,

I am currently a student nurse and one of my assignments is to interview BSN level or higher nurses on ethics. So here are my questions:

1. What is an ethical challenge you face in your day-to-day practice as a nurse?

2. How do you manage a situation without hurting a patient's feelings, when a misunderstanding of your compassionate care makes the patient to flirt with you?

3. As a nurse, how do you feel that you make an impact on social ethics? Or if not, why?

4. Do you feel that your school and its curriculum focused on social ethics and the civil duties of the nurse as part of your professional role?

5. When it comes to ethics in nursing, do you think in terms of rights or duties/obligations and why?

Thanks so much for taking time to answer my questions!

Whitney T.

[jess.mont, ADN, RN]

Just so you're aware, many AN members frown on requests like these. These assignments address meant to get you talking to nurses in the real world, not rely on anonymous message-board users who may not be who they say they are. Think about some nurses you could interview and go out and talk to them; I'm sure you'll gain some valuable insight. Good luck!

[Whitney T.]

I already am interviewing the only nurse I know. I just thought I could use this site as a resource to get a variety of answers. Not every nursing student comes from a family of nurses or already works in healthcare. I have a limited network of nurses that I know, all but one being my teachers who I am not supposed to interview. I'm just looking for help here.

[Sour Lemon]

The first poster is right. These interview questions pop up constantly and are very rarely answered.

You're more or less asking someone to write an essay for you instead of you interviewing them and writing the essay, yourself. Start thinking of a plan B ...just in case.

[Mavrick, BSN, RN]

I think it is unethical to try to get the internet to do your homework for you.

Ethics has a lot to do with how you act when no one is watching. I wonder what your instructors would think of you doing your assignment this way?

[KBurns775]

Hi Whitney,

If your available network of nurses is limited I'd recommend asking if you can interview a faculty member within the nursing program. If you are sincerely unable to interview an RN locally, I'm sure the experienced nursing faculty would try to accommodate your efforts. Perhaps they even have a friend or coworker that they could put you in contact with!

Best of luck!