MORAL JUDGMENT LEVEL OF NURSING STUDENTS IN THREE DIFFERENT NURSING PROGRAM

The purpose of this study was to determine the development of moral judgment for nursing students. These students were enrolled in three nursing programs, each of which differed significantly in ethical content. One goal was to determine if significant differences existed in development of moral judgment between freshmen and senior nursing students enrolled in the same curriculum. Another goal was to determine whether significant differences existed in moral judgment development between senior nursing students who had a required ethics course and senior nursing students who did not have an ethics course.;The sample totaled 180 students (freshmen and seniors) enrolled in three baccalaureate nursing programs. Program one required an ethics course taught by a professor of ethics and taken concurrently with a clinical nursing course. The ethics class format was group discussion and decision making. The second program integrated ethical issues into nursing courses. The ethical content was covered in lectures by nursing faculty. Program three did not include ethical content in theory courses. Specific ethical issues were discussed in the clinical area if a student initiated the discussion. The dependent variable was development of moral judgment as measured by Defining Issues Test (Rest, 1974) P and D Scores. The independent variables were amount of ethics taught in the nursing programs and the level of academic education.;An analysis of variance revealed that the senior nursing students, who had a required ethics course, scored significantly higher on the overall moral judgment score than senior nursing students, who did not have an ethics course. Results indicated that senior nursing students who had ethical content integrated into their nursing curriculum scored higher than seniors who had no ethical content. The three senior nursing groups scored higher than their respective freshmen group on The Moral Judgment P Score. Senior nursing students who participated in group discussion and decision making perceived ethical integration all of the time in their curriculum and scored highest on the moral judgment test.;The conclusion was that an ethics course with participation and decision making significantly facilitated the nursing students' development of moral judgment.