The Current Status of Ethical Judgment Capacity and Ethical Training Regarding Continuous Nursing Education

Background: The present paper elucidates the current status of ethical judgment capacity and nursing ethics in relation to continuous nursing education, while further examining the ideal direction for future educational ventures. Method: We searched the Igaku Chuo Zasshi, MEDLINE, and CINAHL databases for the time period between 2008 and 2018. The keywords used were “nursing ethics,” “nursing practice,” “ethical education,” and “nurses,” restricting the search to research articles focusing on nurses working in hospital wings (excluding nursing managerial positions). Results: A total of 22 papers were extracted. The capacity to make ethical judgments during continuous nursing education corresponds to Article 1 through 11 of the Code of Ethics from the Japanese Nursing Association. Assessed levels included awareness, judgment, and action. In terms of the clinical ladder for nurses, ladders I, II, and IV were observed. In Japan, literature on ethics education for nurses primarily comprised case studies, while papers in foreign countries carried out education through expert knowledge, namely by placing nursing ethics scholars in the hospital. Conclusion: Currently, the capacity for nurses to make ethical judgments does not cover the entire Code of Ethics, and ethics education is not being provided according to all clinical ladder stages. Thus, future work will need to devise a step-wise educational program that can continuously provide adequate ethics training.