Date of Conferral
2022
Degree
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
School
Education
Advisor
Heidi Crocker
Abstract
Newly licensed nurses may enter the profession without the tools to cope with morally distressing events in the workplace. Experiences of moral distress at work negatively affect physical, emotional, and psychological wellbeing, and effects of moral distress on new nurses may result in job dissatisfaction, burnout, and abandonment of the profession. The specific problem is that undergraduate nursing students are entering the professional field experiencing moral distress. In this study, nurse educators’ perspectives regarding how undergraduate nursing curriculum addresses the topic of moral distress and strategies and skills that can enhance moral courage were explored. The conceptual framework comprised Kidder’s ethical decision-making and Kirkpatrick’s evaluation models. Two research questions were used to guide this basic qualitative research involving nurse educators’ perspectives regarding how current undergraduate curriculum addresses the topic of moral distress and strategies to practice skills associated with moral courage. Eight nurse educators teaching in an undergraduate nursing program at a university in northeastern Pennsylvania were interviewed, and data analysis was conducted to identify themes and patterns. This study revealed nurse educators address the topic of moral distress and strategies to enhance nursing students’ moral courage development despite scarce content in the curriculum by Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. The study contributed insights regarding the connection between moral courage and persistence in nursing academics and could thus lead to positive social change for nurse education.
Recommended Citation
Ciesielski, April, "Nurse Educator Perspectives on Undergraduate Nursing Curriculum and Moral Courage Development" (2022). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 13269.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/13269
