unit 1. Components of clinical ethics
1. Ethical theories and principles / Kristin Nelson
Ethical theories
Ethical principles
2. History of clinical ethics / Teresa Savage
History of ethics
The first clinical ethics education program
The consumer movement and the women's movement
Difference between medical ethics and nursing ethics
Teaching ethics in nursing
Proliferation of ethics committees
Nursing ethics now and in the future
3. Ethical standard of practice / Marcia Bosek, Teresa Savage
Code of ethics
Standards and scope of practice
Policy and position statements
Codes of ethics
The 2001 ANA code of ethics for nurses : aspirations and challenges
4. The student role / Marcia Bosek
Academic honesty
Academic dishonesty
Clinical dishonesty
Errors
Professional relationships and boundaries
5. Ethical decision-making / Marcia Bosek
Ethical decision-making
Ethical decision-making goals
Realities in decision-making
Ethical decision-making using the nursing process
Decision analysis model
Resources for facilitating ethical decision-making.

unit 2. Ethical themes and research ethics
6. Confidentiality / Marcia Bosek
Confidentiality defined
Rationale for keeping information confidential
What information is confidential?
Who can access confidential information?
7. Truth-telling / Marcia Bosek
The importance of truth-telling
The obligation to tell the truth
Discriminating between truth and nontruth
8. Advocacy / Teresa Savage
What is advocacy?
The call to advocacy
The strength to advocate
Relationships between health care professionals
Uncertainty, dilemma, and distress
Learning how to advocate
Advocacy for the profession
9. Allocation of resources / Teresa Savage
Justice in health care
The U.S. health care system
Access to care
Managed care
What to do?
Nurses' role in macro allocation
Nurses' role in micro allocation
Special topic : using research in resource allocation
10. Research ethics / Teresa Savage
Ethical themes
History of research ethics
Institutional review boards
Informed consent.

unit 3. Clinical ethical issues
11. Nursing of children and adolescents / Teresa Savage
Section 1. Ethical themes : building from the basic to the complex
Truth-telling
Confidentiality
Advocacy
Allocation of resources
Section 2. Decision-making
Surrogate decision-making
Section 3. The moral status of children
Personhood
Section 4. Genetics
Eugenics
Genetic testing
Linkage analysis
Implications for the family
Newborn screening
12. Nursing of the adult
Marcia Bosek
Section 1. Ethical themes : building from the basic to the complex
Confidentiality
Truth-telling
Advocacy
Allocation of resources
Section 2. Nursing of the adult : advance directives
Autonomy
Before the advent of advance directives
Other life-saving interventions
The Patient Self-Determination Act of 1990
Advance directives
Values clarification
Do not resuscitate orders
The nurse's role
Section 3. Nursing of the adult : end-of-life choices
Autonomy and end-of-life choices
Section 4. Nursing of the adult : adult-onset genetic issues
Ethical issues of presymptomatic diagnosis
Actions that promote informed consent
Special topic : medical directive project
Special topic : it's over, Debbie
13. Women's health nursing / Teresa Savage
Section 1. Ethical themes : building from the basic to the complex
Confidentiality
Truth-telling
Advocacy
Allocation of resources
Section 2. Informed decision-making
Balancing maternal and fetal interests
Pregnancy and HIV
Mandatory bed rest
Pregnancy and delivery
Contraception
Abortion
Sterilization
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)
Menopause
Caregiver burden
Section 3. Assisted reproduction
Infertility
Assisted reproduction
Fetal surgery
Section 4. Genetics in women's health
Genetics
Prenatal testing
14. Mental health nursing / Marcia Bosek
Section 1. Ethical themes : building from the basic to the complex
Confidentiality
Truth-telling
Advocacy
Resource allocation
Section 2. Autonomy versus paternalism
Providing treatment against the patient's will
Use of restraints
Nursing obligations
Section 3. Caring for the challenging patient
Noncompliance
Inadequate resources for dealing with a challenging patient
Unmet expectations
Application of ethical principles to facilitate working with challenging patients
Section 4. Confidentiality versus the duty to protect third parties
Confidentiality
Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California
Privilege
Duty to protect
Strategies
15. Community and public health nursing / Teresa Savage
Section 1. Ethical themes : building from the basic to the complex
Advocacy
Confidentiality
Truth-telling
Allocation of resources
Section 2. Autonomy versus paternalism
Decisional capacity
Parental autonomy
Family paternalism
Section 3. Cultural competency
Cultural/religious practices
Section 4. Ethics in public health
Health promotion and disease prevention.

unit 4. Ethical issues impacting the professional nurse's values
16. Professional ethical issues facing the individual nurse / Marcia Bosek
Section 1. Ethical themes : building from the basic to the complex
Confidentiality
Truth-telling
Advocacy
Allocation of resources
Section 2. Professional nurse issue : conscientious objection
Appeal to conscience
Appeal to nonmaleficence
Actions to remove the need to conscientiously object
Section 3. Professional nurse issue : whistle-blowing
Whistle-blowing legislation
Fallout from acts of whistle-blowing
Section 4. Professional nursing issue : professional misconduct, incompetent and impaired practice
Incompetent practice
Unethical practice
Illegal practice
Impaired practice
Reporting professional misconduct
Strategies
17. Professional ethical issues facing the nurse-manager / Deborah Jezuit
Section 1. Ethical themes : building from the basic to the complex
Confidentiality
Truth-telling
Advocacy
Allocation of resources
Section 2. Professional nursing issues : staffing
Staffing issues
Mandatory overtime
Section 3. Professional nursing issue : management issues
Management responsibilities
Section 4. Professional nursing issue : nursing's voice and power
Shared governance
Appendix. Reports of presidential commissions
Glossary.