Journal of professional nursing : official journal of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing
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Ethical questions dealt with by nurses who have Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degrees include traditional bioethical questions, but also business and legal ethics. Doctorally prepared nurses are increasingly in positions to make ethical decisions rather than to respond to decisions made by others. The traditional master's-degree advanced practice nursing curriculum does not address the extended expertise and decision-making skills needed by DNP practitioners as they face these new types of ethical dilemmas. We propose that a curricular framework that addresses clinical, research, business, and legal ethics is needed by all DNP students.
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In communicating with patients, especially patients receiving palliative care, empathy plays an important role. Little research has as yet been conducted into the development of the empathetic capacity of nursing students at various educational levels. An instrument that may be suitable for such research is the Staff-Patient Interaction Response Scale for Palliative Care Nursing (SPIRS-PCN). ⋯ The homogeneity (Cronbach's alpha = .80) and interrater reliability (.74) of the instrument were adequate. We conclude that validity of the SPIRS-PCN was partially supported, whereas reliability was demonstrated. The instrument is feasible in educational situations; we recommend further research into the instrument's validity, especially in the progression of students' scores during the study program.