Presenting the View of Virtue-Based Ethical Theory in Resolving Ethical Conflicts in Nursing Education: Review Study

The educational and clinical environments of nurses are full of moral conflicts and the instructors and professors of nursing education in this environment are trying to make the students professional based on ethics. In this regard, virtue-based ethical theory can be a suitable ethical framework for teaching nursing students. With this aim, the virtue-based ethical theory in solving ethical conflicts in nursing students’ education was investigated in a review study.

Methods and Materials: 

This article is a review type and to identify related studies, search in reliable databases PubMed, Medline Scops, ERIC, Science Direct, Ovid, ProQuest, IranMedex with Farsi and English keywords moral conflict, education, students Nursing, Virtue Theory, and Ethical Theory Ethical Conflict, Nurses, Nursing Students, Virtue Theory and Ethical Theory was done without time limit. Studies were selected that were in Farsi or English and their full text was available. Finally, 27 articles were selected from 127,660 articles.

The virtue-oriented ethics approach in nursing education is learner-oriented, and its goal is to provide nursing students with ethics-based education that develops personal values and aligns with professional values. Virtue-oriented ethics in the education of nursing students are carried out with four educational strategies: modeling, critical thinking, case study, and opportunities for practice.

Virtue requires a dynamic and long process of moral growth and maturity. It is difficult to evaluate individual progress in this field, but in the education of nursing students, it can be considered as an approach to cultivate the moral qualities and character of future nurses, to provide a platform for the growth of virtuous and professional human beings.