Ethics in the curriculum of undergraduate nursing programs in Turkey

Abstract

Statement of the Problem: Nurses today face many ethical dilemmas. In nursing education programs, it is necessary to develop students' ethical decision making skills. This study was conducted to determine the ethics in the curriculum of undergraduate nursing programs in Turkey. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Research includes 124 undergraduate nursing education programs in Turkey. Web pages of universities were searched to obtain data. The content of the course in which the ethical issues are handled is compared with the content of “National Nursing Core Curriculum”. Findings: The course related to ethics is called "Nursing history and deontology" and "Ethics in nursing" with the highest rate. The students have started clinical practice before ethics course. Lecture and case analysis were frequently used teaching methods. Course content includes shortcomings when compared to National Nursing Core Curriculum. Conclusion & Significance: It is proposed that the curriculum should be updated to ensure that the theoretical knowledge is transferred to the clinical practice in order for the students to develop their ethical decision making skills