Abstract
Background
Undergraduate nursing education standards include acquisition of knowledge of ethics principles and the prevalence of health-care ethical dilemmas mandates that nursing students study ethics. However, little research has been published to support best practices for teaching/learning ethics principles.
Purpose
This study sought to determine if participation in an ethics consultation simulation increased nursing students’ knowledge of nursing ethics principles compared to students who were taught ethics principles in the traditional didactic format.
Methods
This quasi-experimental study utilized a pre-test/post-test design with randomized assignment of students at three universities into both control and experimental groups.
Results
Nursing students’ knowledge of nursing ethics principles significantly improved from pre-test to post-test (p = .002); however, there was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups knowledge scores (p = .13).
Conclusion
Further research into use of simulation to teach ethics principles is indicated.
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