Ethical Dilemmas for Nursing Students and Faculty: In Their Own Voices.

AIM:The aim of this national study was to explore student and faculty personal experiences of ethical dilemmas in nursing education and clinical practice. BACKGROUND:Nurses encounter complex ethical dilemmas in practice that can lead to moral distress when they cannot "do the right thing" because of external constraints. METHOD:A mixed-methods study via online survey was conducted on senior nursing student members and faculty advisors of the National Student Nurses Association. Over 1,600 students and 600 faculty answered a "two-minute survey" with the question: "Please describe an ethical dilemma you have experienced." RESULTS:Descriptive statistics demonstrated a difference in student and faculty reports about the ethics content they received. The qualitative results from constant comparison of open-ended questions also supported differences in themes from student and faculty perspectives. CONCLUSION:This study supports that students and faculty voice their concerns with different ethical dilemmas in their nursing education experiences.