Effects of ethics education on moral sensitivity of nursing students
Abstract
BACKGROUND: While nursing ethics education is commonly provided for undergraduate nursing students in most nursing colleges, consensus on the content and teaching modules for these ethics courses have still not been established. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine the effects of nursing ethics education on the moral sensitivity and critical thinking disposition of nursing students in Korea. RESEARCH DESIGN: A one-group pre- and post-test design was used. Moral sensitivity was measured using the Korean version of the Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire. Critical thinking disposition was measured using the Critical Thinking Disposition Questionnaire. Participants and research context: Participants were 70 undergraduate nursing students who were attending a university located in Seoul, Korea. The nursing ethics education was provided 7 times, from September to December 2010, and comprised 90-min sessions each week. Ethical considerations: This study was conducted in accordance with the Human Subject Research Ethics Committee guidelines. FINDINGS: After the education, the levels for the patient-oriented care, a sub-domain of moral sensitivity, and inquisitiveness, a sub-domain of critical thinking disposition, significantly improved. There were no changes in overall scores for moral sensitivity and critical thinking disposition. There were significant positive correlations between moral sensitivity and critical thinking disposition both pre- and post-intervention. CONCLUSION: These results reflect the need for ongoing efforts to develop innovative content, structure, and instructional methods for undergraduate nursing ethics education programs.
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The strategy that best supports the development of a professional self is difficult to determine.
“However, the strategy that best supports the development of a “professional self” is difficult to determine”
From Ethics education to support ethical competence learning in healthcare: an integrative systematic review (2022) · cites this paper as [47]
Skills can be practiced through workshops, case studies, and problem-solving sessions.
“Skills can be practiced through workshops [49], case studies and problem-solving sessions [37, 43, 47, 48, 50–53].”
From Ethics education to support ethical competence learning in healthcare: an integrative systematic review (2022) · cites this paper as [47]
Knowledge of ethical values can be gained through theoretical lectures and reading appropriate literature.
“Knowledge of, for example, ethical values can be gained through theoretical lectures and the reading of appropriate literature [46–48].”
From Ethics education to support ethical competence learning in healthcare: an integrative systematic review (2022) · cites this paper as [47]
Training design could consist of lectures combined with movies, games, case analyses, and group discussions.
“The design of such training could consist of lectures that are combined with watching movies, playing games, and performing case analyses and group discussions [37, 47, 60, 65].”
From Ethics education to support ethical competence learning in healthcare: an integrative systematic review (2022) · cites this paper as [47]
Focusing ethics education on critical ethics thinking does not necessarily influence the degree of critical ethics thinking.
“Even if the design and content of ethics education focus on thinking about critical ethics, this does not necessarily mean that the degree of critical ethics thinking is influenced [47].”
From Ethics education to support ethical competence learning in healthcare: an integrative systematic review (2022) · cites this paper as [47]
Nursing students experienced ethical dilemmas in clinical settings, such as unprofessional communication with patients by healthcare staff, disregard for patient confidentiality, neglect of patient privacy, discrimination against patients based on socioeconomic status, disclosure of truth to terminally ill patients, euthanasia, and patient resuscitation.
“Prior studies have revealed that nursing students experienced ethical dilemmas in clinical settings, such as unprofessional communication with patients by healthcare staff, disregard for patient confidentiality, neglect of patient privacy, discrimination against patients based on socioeconomic status, disclosure of truth to terminally ill patients, euthanasia, and patient resuscitation [6, 18, 19]”
From Experiences of internship nursing students in confronting ethical issues: a qualitative study (2025) · cites this paper as [6]
Internship nursing students experience many ethical issues in the clinical environment.
“Internship nursing students experience many ethical issues in the clinical environment.”
From Experiences of internship nursing students in confronting ethical issues: a qualitative study (2025) · cites this paper as [6]
Cites
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Andersson, H., Svensson, A., Frank, C., Rantala, A., Holmberg, M., & Bremer, A. (2022) · BMC Medical Ethics · doi:10.1186/s12910-022-00766-z · Cited by 252 · see citing works
A Case-Centered Approach to Nursing Ethics Education: A Qualitative Study
Lee, W., Choi, S., Kim, S., & Min, A. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph17217748 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Self-citationRahmani, P., Behshid, M., Seif‐Farshad, M., Mousavi, S., & Molaei Tavani, F. (2023) · Nursing Open · doi:10.1002/nop2.1344 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
The Effect of Spiritual Training on the Moral Sensitivity of Nursing Students
Ekramifar, F., Farahaninia, M., Mardani Hamooleh, M., & Haghani, H. (2018) · Journal of Client-centered Nursing Care · doi:10.32598/jccnc.4.4.213 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Experiences of internship nursing students in confronting ethical issues: a qualitative study
Heidari, T., Jouybari, L., Borhani, F., & Sabzi, Z. (2025) · BMC Medical Ethics · doi:10.1186/s12910-025-01254-w · Cited by 6 · see citing works
- Authors
- Yeom, H.-A., Ahn, S.-H., & Kim, S.-J.
- Affiliations
- Catholic University of Korea (KR)
- University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
- Corresponding author
- Ahn, Sung-Hee
- ORCID
- Ahn, Sung-Hee
- Venue
- Nursing Ethics
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2016-01-24
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 644-652
- ISSN
- 0969-7330 (ISSN-L)
- 1477-0989
- OpenAlex
- W2283800398
- Cited by
- 151
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 9.30
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Nursing Ethics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Creighton University
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Ethics in medical practice
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Ethics in Business and Education
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Leadership and Management › Healthcare Education and Workforce Issues
- Keywords
- nursing ethics education, moral sensitivity, critical thinking disposition, nursing students, patient-centered care, inquisitiveness, ethics education, Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate, Ethics, Nursing, Female, Humans, Morals, Psychometrics, Surveys and Questionnaires, Students, Nursing, Thinking, Universities, Republic of Korea
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