The increasing complexities of health care coupled with the decreasing importanceof ethical values held by college students, including nursing students, compelnurse educators to step up efforts to strengthen the moral courage values oftheir students. While the nursing curriculum is the ideal breeding ground forbuilding moral courage values, few studies describe how these values wereembedded in any nursing curriculum, much less an accelerated bachelor’s degreein nursing (ABSN) curriculum. This study outlines an ABSN curriculum withteaching-learning activities designed to build moral courage values in itsclassroom and clinical settings. Faculty perceptions of 29 ABSN students’honesty, respectfulness, responsibility, fairness, and compassion were surveyed4 weeks after beginning, and again at the end of the ABSN program. The ABSN exitquestionnaire administered annually by the College Office of InstitutionalResearch, assessed the effectiveness of the ABSN curriculum. Of the 20 learningoutcomes on the questionnaire, five related to moral courage values. The 5-pointresponse scale ranged from Not at All, toSomewhat, Moderately, Well, andExtremely Well. t-test calculationsrevealed significant growth for four of the five values surveyed. Honesty,responsibility, fairness, and compassion were each positively significant at thep < .05 level. For the 27 of the 29 ABSN students whoresponded to the exit questionnaire, the Well and ExtremelyWell responses ranged from respectfulness and responsibility at73%, to compassion and honesty at 78%, and fairness at 82%. Teaching-learningactivities to build moral courage values successfully promoted the nursingprogram objective that the student will demonstrate proficient clinical,technological, and ethical competence in the delivery and management of healthcare.
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