Nursing Ethics and Shared Governance Model
This article discusses how The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) Nursing Ethics Core Council built an infrastructure that supports competence and professional growth.
Course Details
Overview
In 2021, the ANA Center for Ethics and Human Rights released a position statement, “Nurses' Professional Responsibility to Promote Ethical Practice Environments,” which directs nurses to “enhance their awareness of and sensitivity to the ethics content of challenges they face in their practice and take ownership of their own ethical competence to address these challenges.”
Nursing shared governance is founded on the premise that nursing professionals have accountability for decisions made within their role, particularly as they pertain to competence, education, quality, and practice. A nursing shared governance council can prepare clinical nurses to implement ethics resources, engage in ethical decision-making, and take ethical action. This article discusses the journey of The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) Nursing Ethics Core Council to develop a formal ethics infrastructure through its existing nursing shared governance structure.
Key Learning Outcomes
- Describe ways to increase nursing education and participation in ethics education.
- Discuss how to support nurses' ethical competence on an individual level.
- Explain steps organizations can take to support nurses' ethical competence.
