Teaching basic ethical concepts and decision-making: a staff development application.

Academic nursing programs are increasing the amount of ethical instruction presented to undergraduate and graduate students. However, nurses who graduated several years ago may find themselves without the background and skills needed to discuss the complex bioethical dilemmas they now face. This article presents the development of a continuing education program to acquaint nurses with basic ethical concepts and bioethical decision-making processes. Presentations were piloted with a small group of nurses from the outpatient department of a pediatric tertiary care hospital.