Author(s)

Emi Yoshioka^*, Sayuri Kaneko

Nagano College of Nursing, Komagane City, Japan.

The aim of this study was to reveal the level of ethical competence acquired through basic nursing education, to report on the present state of ethics education, and to consider future directions for ethics education. The medical databases ICHUSHI, MEDLINE, and CINAHL were searched using the search terms “nursing ethics,” “nursing practice,” “ethics education,” and “nursing students.” Of the total results, 25 research articles (original papers, research reports, practical reports, documents) were used for this study. Ethical competence covered in basic nursing education corresponded to points 1 - 11 of the Code of Ethics, and the competencies acquired included cognizance and judgement. Ethics education included methods such as case studies in Japan and blended learning in other countries. At present, ethical competence education does not comprehensively cover the Code of Ethics, and the judgement level of competence is not acquired during basic nursing education. It is thus necessary henceforth to progressively put an educational program in place to develop ethics education that persists from basic nursing education through to continuing nursing education.

Nursing Ethics, Ethics Education, Ethical Competence, Nursing Students

Yoshioka, E. and Kaneko, S. (2019) The Acquisition of Ethical Competence in Basic Education and the Present State of Ethics Education. Open Journal of Nursing, 9, 676-686. doi: 10.4236/ojn.2019.97052.