USING PATIENT CARE SITUATIONS TO APPLY KOHLBERG'S MORAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY TO NURSING (ETHICS)

The purpose of this study is to show how patient care situations can be used to apply the Kohlberg theory of moral development to nursing education and practice. This study is philosophical in nature and directed primarily to nurses and secondarily to related health professionals. The theoretical bases are found primarily in Kolhberg's theory of moral development and in Rogers' (1961, 1971) and King's (1971, 1981) theories of nursing.;The need for increased attention by programs of nursing education to moral development and to bioethical decision-making skills is evidenced in a study by M. Aroskar, R.N., Ph.D. (1977). Aroskar conducted a study of accredited baccalaureate nursing curricula in the late spring of 1976, with the cooperation of the Hastings Center Institute for Society, Ethics and Life Sciences. The purpose was to identify whether and, if so, how moral issues were included in nursing programs and to consider implications for further development of nursing curricula to include values and ethics in the nursing context. Aroskar's study reveals that respondents lack a body of knowledge about the theoretical base for bioethical decision-making in nursing.;The Hastings Center Commission on the Teaching of Bioethics has documented the lack of teaching of bioethics in nursing education. The Commission stated that "since there are virtually no trained teachers with adequate skills in both clinical aspects of nursing and ethics training, opportunities for faculty development must be given especially high priority (The Hastings Center, 1976, p.4).".;In Chapter I, the articulation between Kohlberg's theory of moral development and Rogers' and King's theories of nursing is introduced within the context of nursing education and practice. Chapter II focuses on the implicit moral dimensions of nursing theory, working principally from the theories of M. Rogers (1961, 1971) and I. King (1971, 1981). Chapter III is a purely expository summary of L. Kohlberg's theory of moral development. Chapter IV develops, along Kohlbergian lines, several significant patient care situations involving bioethical issues in nursing and shows how they can be used in nursing education and practice. Chapter V presents a summary, conclusions, and suggestions for further study. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.).;There are concerns expressed by many nurse leaders that nurses are not being prepared educationally to deal with the increasing number of moral conflicts encountered in the practice of nursing. Many of these concerns are echoed by the nurse in her day-to-day practice of nursing. Increasing technology is enabling medical science to intervene in human life in ways that are raising new moral questions for all of the health professions. The ultimate goal of any profession is to improve the practice of its members so that the services provided to their clients will produce the greatest benefits. Any profession seeking to enhance its professional image undertakes the continuous development of a body of knowledge fundamental to its practice.