children, [but] more is expected of both educationalists and students in nursing
education” (Holt and Long 1999 p. 247). The something more they advocate is the
teaching of ethics as a separate subject like any other in nurse education with an
emphasis on critical thinking and logical reasoning. These things are important and are
to be supported in the pursuit of the autonomous and accountable practitioner, yet
neither learning ethics nor philosophical method can take the place of an education that
seeks to encourage in students the sorts of dispositions considered desirable, if not
essential, for practising nurses.
When they claim, “The guidance required by students is not moral guidance on how to
act, but guidance on how to critically evaluate the beliefs and arguments advanced on
ethical issues” (ibid) they distinguish between actions and beliefs as well as between
character and reason. Yet, despite the later claim that their approach enables students to
undertake moral evaluations of actions (which again is an important skill), it still allows
students to view the learning of ethics as an intellectual exercise one step removed from
(their own) professional moral responsibility. Once knowledgeable about ethics and
philosophical method we may be able to evaluate our actions as wrong or right, as
harmful or beneficial, yet we may still choose to act in wrong or harmful ways.
The moral education of nurses
If neither ethics teaching nor moral guidance is sufficient for the development of an
ethical practitioner then there seems to be a case for the moral education of nurses. Yet
this idea remains slightly odd for, as I have stated, one might reasonably imagine that
those charged with the education of nurses already take seriously the development of
the character as well as the intellectual and practical skills of the nurse.
Indeed, it might seem odd because it is very often assumed that moral education is of
relevance to the general education of children rather than adults and as such remains an
issue for teachers in primary and secondary rather than those in tertiary education.
Generally speaking, it is true that teachers are likely to have some influence on the
moral development of children and young people up to the age of 16 in compulsory
education (especially those in primary schools), and on those between 16 and 18 who
remain in full time education. The school and teachers will influence how pupils come
to view themselves and their relationships with others whether or not the teachers intend
it. Those schools (and teachers) that take seriously the idea that there is no such thing as
22