To integrate virtue and ethics education into a health assessment curriculum for nursing students: A controlled study

Abstract Objective To integrate virtue and ethics education into a health assessment course for nursing students, and to investigate the effects of such education on the students' perceptions and behaviors related to medical ethics. Methods Freshmen nursing students in a Chinese college were randomly divided into two groups, each including 105 students. In the health assessment course, the control group was given regular teaching contents according to the teaching standards, while the innovation group was given the teaching content required by the teaching standards, with the virtue and ethics education integrated into the corresponding knowledge points in the teaching design.The two groups' following performances were compared: the scores of the Nurses' Professional Values Scale - Revised (NPVS-R), the scores of virtue and ethics in the practice assessment, and the average volunteer service time. Results The innovation group scored higher than the control group in terms of the total score, Factor 1, Factor 3, Factor 4, and Factor 5 modules of the NPVS-R (P < 0.05); no significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of the module score of Factor 2 (P > 0.05); and the scores of virtue and ethics in the practical assessment and the average volunteer service hours of the innovation group were significantly higher than those of the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion Integrating virtue and ethics education into the teaching of the health assessment course is a useful supplement to medical ethics education, and it can influence students positively in cognition, skills and behavior for virtue and ethics.