Abstract

Clinical decision making by nurses is an essential component of nursing practice that requires a logical, reasoned analysis of the nursing situation. An important goal of nursing education is to produce nurses who base such an analysis on principled moral reasoning. One aspect of principled moral reasoning, moral judgment, was investigated in this study. ;Via questionnaires and selected interviews, life experiences of registered nurses were assessed for their relationship to the nurses' level of moral judgment as measured by the Defining Issues Test . Registered nurses pursuing baccalaureate education and associate-degree registered nurses employed in acute-care hospitals were studied. ;The results of this study reveal a wide variation in the level of moral judgment among the registered-nurse subjects. No particular life experience was found to be associated with high, medium or low levels of moral judgment. Years of formal education was not significantly correlated with the subjects' level of moral judgment. Results suggest factors in the work environment as yet unexamined may affect the use of principled moral reasoning by registered nurses. ;On a daily basis, as a function of their work, nurses enter into intimate and intense relationships with virtual strangers that few other occupations or professions encounter. Such experiences may significantly alter the path of the nurse's overall general social development. Research on ways in which development of moral judgment proceeds in registered nurses and how it may differ from other disciplines and populations is warranted