Course

Applied Nursing Ethics, Leadership and Moral Courage

Faculty
Health Sciences
Department
Nursing
Course code
NURS 3415
Credits
3.00
Semester length
15 weeks
Max class size
36
Method(s) of instruction
Lecture
Course designation
Certificate in Global Competency
Industry designation
None
Typically offered
To be determined

Overview

Course description
This course focuses on applied nursing ethics with an emphasis on the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses. Applied nursing ethics is a sub-category of ethics, and it involves translating ethical principles into professional nursing practice. This course builds on prior leadership courses, viewing leadership from the perspective of individual and collective influence. Students develop the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and abilities to act as leaders in the professional nursing field, explicitly emphasizing acts of moral courage.
Course content

Ethical Perspective:

  • CNA Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses

Concepts and/or themes applied to nursing ethics:

  • Care
  • Compassion
  • Accountability
  • Emotional intelligence
  • Ethical problems
  • Ethical dilemmas
  • Moral distress
  • Moral agency
  • Moral disengagement
  • Moral outrage
  • Moral courage
  • Cultural safety, humility, and anti-racist practices
  • Duty to report
  • Safe practice
  • Public safety
  • Health policy
  • Health equity
  • Sex and gender
  • Race and ethnicity
  • Indigenous Peoples and reconciliation
  • Social justice
  • Power differentials in professional relationships

Moral Principles as applied to nursing:

  • Advocacy
  • Autonomy
  • Integrity
  • Veracity
  • Fidelity
  • Beneficence
  • Non-maleficence
  • Justice
  • Confidentiality
  • Moral courage
  • Respect for self-worth
  • Respect for dignity
Learning activities
Faculty will facilitate the student's integration of nursing theory and promote the development of critical inquiry, clinical reasoning and judgment through learning activities such as lectures, group discussions, client-based scenarios, and using electronic resources.
 
Means of assessment
This is a graded course, and the means of assessment are consistent with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. The instructor's course outline will be available to students by the first class and list the evaluative components of the course.
 
Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

  1. Recognize how leadership competencies in nursing are grounded in experience and guided by ethical values and responsibilities that are significant to nursing;
  2. Apply nursing leadership in the form of advocacy and moral courage to their professional and personal lives;
  3. Explain how ethical and legal considerations relate to nursing practice, including client confidentiality, informed consent, and duty to report;
  4. Solve ethical dilemmas using an ethical decision-making model;
  5. Identify moral principles that are relevant to ethical problems encountered in nursing;
  6. Integrate the directives in the CNA Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses to decision-making in nursing care.
Textbook materials

The instructor's course outline will be available to students by the first class and list the required textbooks and materials that students must purchase.

Requisites

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers to Other Institutions

Below are current transfer agreements from Douglas College to other institutions for the current course guidelines only. For a full list of transfer details and archived courses, please see the BC Transfer Guide.

Institution Transfer details for NURS 3415
There are no applicable transfer credits for this course.

Course Offerings

Fall 2025

CRN Days Instructor Status
Maximum seats
32
Currently enrolled
19
Remaining seats:
13
On waitlist
0
Building
Coquitlam - Bldg. C
Room
C1002
Times:
Start Time
12:30
-
End Time
16:20
CRN Days Instructor Status
Maximum seats
32
Currently enrolled
16
Remaining seats:
16
On waitlist
0
Building
Coquitlam - Bldg. C
Room
C1002
Times:
Start Time
8:30
-
End Time
12:20