Ethics-based Nursing and Health Studies Education, Research and Service: Practicing What We Preach

In 2004, Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies introduced a five-year program to embed values in education, research, and service. This program responds to a concern that it is imperative to instil in nursing and health administration education and practice values that are both reflective of the increasingly diverse American society and those that are generally applicable. It was also seen as fundamental that nursing and health administration research have a values-based foundation, and that institutional practices be reflective of these values. This paper presents the mid-term progress of the initiative toward the goal of embedding values in the School's educational, research and service activities. The qualitative methods included: interviews with department chairs, faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, and administrative staff; and review of syllabi for a sample of undergraduate and graduate courses. The initiative has thus far devised a core set of values that have been agreed-upon by the faculty through a participatory process, reviewed curricula to determine the degree to which these values are embedded, and initiated a process of assessing research and service activities against these core values. The values-based initiative has already had impact on the engagement of faculty and staff in the process of determining shared values – itself positive in terms of identifying shared concepts of common good and other values, and their implications for nursing practice.