Teaching Nursing Ethics

This tab is intended for nursing educators, to assist in the development of nursing ethics courses’ content preparation, assignments, and syllabus creation. The majority of contemporary articles on teaching ethics in nursing are based upon bioethics. Though the articles may have a reference to the Code of Ethics for Nurses, they proceed on the basis of bioethical analysis (the four principles, from Beauchamp and Childress, of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and distributive justice), rather than being grounded in and explicating nursing ethics. Please note that none of these principles is mentioned in the Code of Ethics for Nurses. Articles on teaching the professional ethics of nursing, that is, nursing ethics, in today’s literature is an emerging domain of scholarship. In the meantime, some (not all) of the articles below are on teaching ethics using a perspective from bioethics, but do add something from the pedagogical-methods perspective itself. Articles will be added to this tab when possible.

Resources

Books

  • Benner, P., Sutphen, M., Leonard-Kahn, V., Day, L. (2010) Educating Nurses: A Call for Radical Transformation. Jossey-Bass, Carnegie Foundation for Advancement of Teaching, Stanford.

Chapters

  • Benner, Patricia. “Studying Expert Ethical Comportment and Preserving the Ethics of Care and Responsibility Embedded in Expert Nursing Practice,” Chapter 9, in Fowler, Marsha. Nursing Ethics, 1880s to the Present: An Archeology of Lost Wisdom and Identity. London: Routledge, April 2024. 
  • Grace, Pamela J. 2023. “Nursing Ethics.” In Nursing Ethics and Professional Responsibility in Advanced Practice, edited by Pamela J. Grace and Melissa K. Uveges, chapter 2. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. 
  • Grace, Pamela J.2024. “An Argument for the Distinct Nature of Nursing Ethics.” In Nursing Ethics: Normative Foundations, Advanced Concepts, and Emerging Issues, edited by Michael J. Deem and Jennifer H. Lingler, 3–21. New York: Oxford University Press. 
  • Robichaux, Catherine. 2017. “Developing Ethical Skills: A Framework.” In Ethical Competence in Nursing Practice: Competencies, Skills, Decision Making, edited by Catherine Robichaux, 23–46. New York: Springer.

Articles

  • Aroskar, Mila, and Robert M. Veatch. 1977. “Ethics Teaching in Nursing Schools.” Hastings Center Report 7 (4): 23–26. https://doi.org/10.2307/3560473.
  • Cannaerts, Nancy, Chris Gastmans, and Bernadette Dierckx de Casterlé. 2014. “Contribution of Ethics Education to the Ethical Competence of Nursing Students: Educators’ and Students’ Perceptions.” Nursing Ethics 21 (8): 861–878. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733014523166.
  • Chaimo, Kesinee, and Sureeporn Thanasilp. 2026. “A Systematic Review and Meta-Synthesis of Ethics of Teaching in Nursing Education.” Nursing Ethics 33 (4): 1139–68. https://doi.org/10.1177/09697330261418157.Halldorsdottir, Sigridur, and Bryngeirsdottir, Hulda S.. 2025. “Ethical Competence in Nursing: A Theoretical Definition.” Nursing Ethics32 (7). https://doi.org/10.1177/09697330251346437.
  • Gastmans, Chris. 2002. “A Fundamental Ethical Approach to Nursing: Some Proposals for Ethics Education.” Nursing Ethics 9 (5): 494–507. https://doi.org/10.1191/0969733002ne539oa.
  • Grace, Pamela J., and Aimee Milliken. 2016. “Educating Nurses for Ethical Practice in Contemporary Health Care Environments.” In Nurses at the Table: Nursing, Ethics, and Health Policy, special supplement to The Hastings Center Report 46 (5): S13–S17. https://doi.org/10.1002/hast.625.
  • Grace, Pamela J., Ellen M. Robinson, Martha Jurchak, Angelika A. Zollfrank, and Susan M. Lee. 2014. “Clinical Ethics Residency for Nurses: An Education Model to Decrease Moral Distress and Strengthen Nurse Retention in Acute Care.” Journal of Nursing Administration 44 (12): 640–646. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0000000000000141.
  • Halldorsdottir, Sigridur, and Bryngeirsdottir, Hulda S.. 2025. “Ethical Competence in Nursing: A Theoretical Definition.” Nursing Ethics 32 (7). https://doi.org/10.1177/09697330251346437.
  • Hoskins, Katelin, Christine Grady, and Connie Ulrich. 2018. “Ethics Education in Nursing: Instruction for Future Generations of Nurses | OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing.” Ojin.nursingworld.org. January 31, 201 https://ojin.nursingworld.org/table-of-contents/volume-23-2018/number-1-january-2018/ethics-education-in-nursing/.
  • Jakobsen, Lena Marian, and Kjersti Sunde Mæhre. 2023. “Can a Structured Model of Ethical Reflection Be Used to Teach Ethics to Nursing Students? An Approach to Teaching Nursing Students a Tool for Systematic Ethical Reflection.” Nursing Open 10 (2): 721–29. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.1339.
  • Jurchak, Martha, Pamela J. Grace, Susan M. Lee, Danny G. Willis, Angelika A. Zollfrank, and Ellen M. Robinson. 2017. “Developing Abilities to Navigate Through the Grey Zones in Complex Environments: Nurses’ Reasons for Applying to a Clinical Ethics Residency for Nurses.” Journal of Nursing Scholarship 49 (4): 445–455. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnu.12297.
  • Lee, Susan M., Ellen M. Robinson, Pamela J. Grace, Angelika A. Zollfrank, and Martha Jurchak. 2020. “Developing a Moral Compass: Themes from the Clinical Ethics Residency for Nurses’ Final Essays.” Nursing Ethics 27 (1): 28–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733019833125.
  • Milliken, Aimee. 2018a. “Ethical Awareness: What It Is and Why It Matters.” OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing 23 (1): Manuscript 1. http://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-23-2018/No1-Jan-2018/Ethical-Awareness.html.
  • Milliken, Aimee. 2018b. “Nurse Ethical Sensitivity: An Integrative Review.” Nursing Ethics 25 (3): 278–303. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733016665402.
  • Milliken, Aimee, and Pamela J. Grace. 2017. “Nurse Ethical Awareness: Understanding the Nature of Everyday Practice.” Nursing Ethics 24 (5): 517–524.
  • Numminen, Outi H., Helena Leino-Kilpi, Arie van der Arend, and Johanna Katajisto. 2010. “Nurse Educators’ Teaching of Codes of Ethics.” Nurse Education Today 30 (2): 124–131.
  • O’Mathúna, Dónal P.. 2022. “Nursing Ethics Education: Thinking, Feeling, and Technology.” Critical Care Nursing Clinics of North America. Published online September 22, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cnur.2022.06.009.
  • Papastavrou, Evridiki, Stefania Chiappinotto, Chris Gastmans, Michael Igoumenidis, Catherine McCabe, Riitta Suhonen, and Alvisa Palese. 2025. “Ethics in Undergraduate Nursing Degrees: An International Comparative Education Study.” Nursing Ethics 32 (2): 472–485. https://doi.org/10.1177/09697330241247322.
  • Papastavrou, Evridiki, Michael Igoumenidis, Stefania Chiappinotto, Riitta Suhonen, Chris Gastmans, Catherine McCabe, Vasiliki Kourkouni, and Alvisa Palese. 2026. “The Challenges of Teaching Nursing Ethics: Navigating Complexities in Education and Practice: A Discussion Paper.” International Journal of Ethics Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40889-026-00243-w.
  • Petrovic, Kristin, Beth Perry, and Pamela Walsh. 2023. “Aligning Nursing Ethics with Critical and Open Pedagogy in Nursing Education: A Literature Review.” Nurse Educator 48 (1): E1–E5. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNE.0000000000001253.
  • Ramos, Flávia Regina Souza, Denise Elvira Pires de Pires, Laura Cavalcanti Brehmer, Francine Lima Gelbcke, Sonia Denise Schmoeller, and Jorge Lorenzetti. 2013. “The Discourse of Ethics in Nursing Education: Experience and Reflections of Brazilian Teachers—Case Study.” Nurse Education Today 33 (10): 1124–1129.
  • Robichaux, Catherine, Pamela Grace, Jennifer Bartlett, Felicia Stokes, Mileva Saulo Lewis, and Martha Turner. 2022. “Ethics Education for Nurses: Foundations for an Integrated Curriculum.” Journal of Nursing Education 61 (3): 123–130. https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20220109-02.
  • Raustøl, A., & Tveit, B. (2023). Compassion, emotions and cognition: Implications for nursing education. Nursing Ethics, 30(1), 145–154. https://doi.org/10.1177/09697330221128903
  • Sedgwick, Margaret, Stephanie Yanicki, and Em Pijl. 2020. “Analysis of Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Sensitivity to Microethical Dilemmas During Simulation.” Journal of Nursing Education 59 (2): 88–92.
  • Snelling, Paul, and Gallagher, Ann. 2024. “Is Nursing Ethics Education in Disarray?” Nursing Ethics 31 (2–3). https://doi.org/10.1177/09697330241256992.  
  • Willis, Danny G., Grace, Pamela J., and Roy, Callista. 2008. “A Central Unifying Focus for the Discipline: Facilitating Humanization, Meaning, Choice, Quality of Life, and Healing in Living and Dying.” Advances in Nursing Science 31 (1): E28–E40. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.ANS.0000311534.04059.d9. 
  • Wocial, Lucia D. 2018. “In Search of a Moral Community.” OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing 23 (1): Manuscript 2.
  • Zolkefli, Yusrita, Siti Hanna Muharram, Nursalam Nursalam, and Ashikin Atan. 2024. “Nurse Educators’ Perspectives in Facilitating Ethics Education: A Descriptive Qualitative Study.” Teaching and Learning in Nursing 19 (4): e739–e744. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.teln.2024.07.014.

Websites

Webinars, on demand

More to come…