Abstract:

ObjectiveTo investigate the current status of Nursing Ethics courses and faculty in undergraduate schools in China. Methods A self-designed questionnaire was developed based on literature review and expert consultation to assess the current status of Nursing Ethics courses and faculty for nursing undergraduates students. Using convenience sampling method，the electronic questionnaire was distributed to the course directors of Nursing Ethics at undergraduate schools across the country from July to August 2023. Results A total of 118 Nursing Ethics course leaders completed the questionnaire，with 34 excluded from analysis due to completion time less than three minutes，resulting in an effective response rate of 71%. Among the 84 undergraduate schools，76%（64/84） had Nursing Ethics as a compulsory course，while 49%（41/84） did not allocate practical hours for the Nursing Ethics course. Lecture-based teaching remained the primary teaching method or format for Nursing Ethics courses[84（100%）]. In evaluation，attendance checks combined with process evaluation and final theoretical exams were the primary assessment methods[46（55%）]. Additionally，27%（23/84） of Nursing Ethics course leaders had not received ethics training，while 98%（82/84） believed that ethics training should be provided for course instructors. Conclusion The status of nursing ethics courses has gradually risen，though there are still issues need to be improved such as “emphasizing theory over practice” in teaching，a single teaching or assessment method，and insufficient continued education related to ethics that teachers receive. In the future，active development of online teaching resources，incorporating assessment methods such as practical evaluation reports and short essays，scenario simulations and virtual patients for practical teaching，increasing training opportunities and resources for teachers，and inviting teachers with backgrounds in psychology，sociology，law，and related fields to the teaching team，can be considered to comprehensively improve the teaching quality of nursing ethics.

Key words: Education, Nursing, Nursing Ethics, Survey, Curriculum, Faculty