Views of nursing students on using standardized patient and in-class case analysis in ethics education.

Abstract Background It is important to use student-centred, active teaching strategies in ethics education to develop students' skills in dealing with ethical problems. Objectives This study sought the opinions, suggestions, and thoughts of students receiving ethics education with in-class case analysis (ICCA) and standardized patient (SP) practice. Research design and participants A phenomenological and interpretive design based on qualitative interviews was used. The sample was 86 nursing students in 8 focus groups. Results The mean age of participants was 21.40 ± 0.844, and most of the participants were female (n = 76). Themes obtained from the student interviews were 1) impact on knowledge, skills and emotions, 2) learning process, 3) decision making process, 4) recommendations for the future practice. Conclusions The students stated that both teaching methods were beneficial in ethics education; they understood the subject better, gained multi-directional thinking skills, and their awareness of ethical problems increased. Thus, ICCA and SP practice are teaching methods that should be used in nursing ethics education.