FACILITATOR GUIDE to Ethical Case Studies for Advanced Practice Nurses

This facilitator guide supports educators teaching ethical case studies to advanced practice nurses.

Textbook information:

This book increases advanced practice registered nurses' knowledge and agility in resolving ethical dilemmas encountered in the clinical setting, healthcare organizations, and academic institutions. Goals for this book are:

• Provide an educational tool to increase APRN students' abilities to identify ethical concerns and work through them to find a solution.
• Inform and expand current ethical pedagogy for APRN students. Faculty teaching in doctor of nursing practice, master of science in nursing, and certified nurse anesthetist pro- grams; their students; and practicing APRNs will benefit from working through the case studies to identify and solve ethical dilemmas.
• Provide classroom and clinical teaching in the form of case studies to foster critical thinking, judgment, and the skills needed to resolve ethical dilemmas. As healthcare increases in complexity, APRNs will continue to experience ethical conflicts and dilemmas. Providing guidance to APRNs in identifying and resolving ethical dilemmas can increase effective patient outcomes, and we can continue to be the most honest and ethical profession now and into the future.

Consideration for ethics in advanced nursing practice can be taxing, regardless of where one is in their career. As an APRN with many responsibilities when caring for patients, applying ethical consideration to each decision can be a daunting task. Not that every situation needs an in-depth ethical analysis; however, certain circumstances require more thought and attention. Applying a framework can help the APRN by providing a set of criteria for working through an ethical dilemma. It does not provide an answer to the dilemma, but it helps to guide the APRN to use critical thinking to come to an ethically sound decision.