Codes of conduct for Nursing students: bioethical commitment to higher education in Spain

Abstract

Background: As a profession, Nursing has its own code of ethics and codes of conduct which establish personal and professional behavior expected on Nursing professionals and students to be competent in their practice, learning and development. The Nursing and Midwifery Council has a Code of Professional Conduct for students of Nursing and Midwife. Considering that the diversity of values is a fact in the university community, it is necessary to explore the validity and meaning to implement Codes of Professional Conduct for Nursing students in the teaching and learning process. Objective: To identify and assess codes of conduct aimed at Nursing students to understand the commitment to Bioethics training of higher education in Spain. Methods: A literature review was conducted. Main elements of ethical codes and the dimensions of the attitudinal assessment template for Nursing students in clinical practice with the code of conduct of the English Council were compared. Results: The literature review brings two articles in Spanish language and according to the selection criteria. The journal “Etica de los cuidados” -indexed in “Cuiden” database- collects these studies reporting that both professionals and students know the Spanish Code of Ethics for Nursing and there is a need to establish a new teaching and learning framework in Bioethics; however, no specific articles provide knowledge about codes of conduct for Nursing students in Spain. Conclusion: In general, the standards of conduct for students of the Nursing and Midwifery Council are already implicit in the ethical rules, rights and duties of the Spanish code of professional ethics. So it is still necessary to consider the Code of Conduct of the Spanish Nursing Council and the White Paper of the Nursing Degree to understand the commitment to Bioethics training on Nursing.