It is always SONEI in Nursing Ethics……with apologies for a bit of morning pre-latte humor! The Society for Nursing Ethics International (SONEI.org) has been established and the website has gone 🎉 live! The website is fully open, fully accessible to subscribers and non-subscribers alike — and it is entirely FREE. Because, well, nurses are freely … Continue reading Announcing – the Society for Nursing Ethics International (SONEI)
Ethical Knowing
A Nurse’s Instinct, A Life Saved
Van Nguyen DNP, APRN, AGACNP-BC, FNP-C, PMGT-BC One of the most rewarding moments in my nursing career came unexpectedly during a routine shift that became anything but routine. I was assigned to care for a 52-year-old male with esophageal cancer, seven days post-op after an esophagectomy. Esophageal cancer accounts for 2.6% of all new cancer … Continue reading A Nurse’s Instinct, A Life Saved
Why I Will Not let Nursing Lose Caring
Contributor - Mariana Lori Jurist, BSN, RNPhD Student, FAU College of Nursing Caring, to me, is not an approach. It’s the reason I became a nurse, and the reason I stay one. I have learned that if I am not careful, the word caring can get treated like a soft add-on, something nice that sits … Continue reading Why I Will Not let Nursing Lose Caring
Action Defending Democracy: Overdue Reckoning on Racism in Nursing – March 28, April 4, 18 & 25
Co-contributors - Lucinda Canty, Christina Nyirati Over the past year, the Nursology.net team members have developed a thread of blogs focused on Action Defending Democracy. The "Overdue Reckoning" discussions provide a way for nurses to come together and engage in emancipatory action! These actions are fundamental to our ethical duty as nurses, and to emancipatory … Continue reading Action Defending Democracy: Overdue Reckoning on Racism in Nursing – March 28, April 4, 18 & 25
Emancipatory Nursing and the Limits of Political Neutrality
Contributor - Kaija Freborg, DNP, RN, AHN-BC, HWNC-BC Helpless. This is how a Minneapolis nurse described feeling in response to the militarized occupation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minnesota, an operation that is being used to disappear immigrants, racialized people, and others who stand in the way. With despair, the nurse recounted having … Continue reading Emancipatory Nursing and the Limits of Political Neutrality
Moral Anguish Demands Moral Action
Posts by Marsha Fowler In the early 1980s, Andy and I mused on many things including moral uncertainty, moral dilemma, and moral distress. We would never have thought that moral distress was entry level, barely across the threshold. Perhaps we now need “moral anguish.” Moral anguish: when we know what is right and good, but … Continue reading Moral Anguish Demands Moral Action
Call Them Somali Americans
Contributor - Kathleen "Katie" Clark, DNP, RN Witness - Why we cannot look away I write this as a nurse educator in Minneapolis, where federal immigration enforcement has become part of everyday life. As nurses, we have a fundamental responsibility to respond to the crises and challenges of our time, centering on emancipatory approaches. As … Continue reading Call Them Somali Americans
Nursing Voices in the US Immigrant Crisis
Alex Pretti, ICU nurse assassinated by ICE on January 24, 2026 At our January Nursology.net Advisory Team Zoom meeting, we heard from a colleague who lives and works in the great city of Minneapolis. She spoke of the suffering in her neighborhood, where people are being terrorized by atrocities committed against Brown people and others. … Continue reading Nursing Voices in the US Immigrant Crisis
Truth in Action and Presence in Practice: Integrating Gandhi’s Philosophy and the Careful Nursing Model in Contemporary Nursing
Contributor - Julie Joseph, MSN,RN, CCRNPhD Student, Texas Woman's University A Global Journey Toward Truth and Presence in Nursing Having practiced in India and Ireland, and currently working in the United States, I have observed nursing from diverse cultural perspectives. Across these contexts, one insight remains constant: nursing is more than a profession; it is … Continue reading Truth in Action and Presence in Practice: Integrating Gandhi’s Philosophy and the Careful Nursing Model in Contemporary Nursing
Bird Brains, Edge Group Effect, and Nursing Knowledge Drift
"The Hudsonian Godwit makes a trip from breeding grounds in arctic Alaska almost to the southernmost tip of South America—just under 10,000 miles!" - Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology When I was a child we called one another “birdbrain” when we had done something stupid or counterproductive. It was a harsh insult. But in more recent years a significant … Continue reading Bird Brains, Edge Group Effect, and Nursing Knowledge Drift
The Ocean We Navigate: A Metaphor for Professional Development in Nursing
Guest Contributor: Leah KorkisDirector of Clinical Education and Nursing Excellence, University of Southern California I grew up kayaking with my Dad off the shores of Kailua, Oahu. I remember with each stroke of my paddle the shifting winds blowing through my hair, the rhythmic lapping of waves, and the mysterious expanse stretching beneath and beyond. … Continue reading The Ocean We Navigate: A Metaphor for Professional Development in Nursing
Integrating the ANA Code of Ethics in Nursing Education: Advancing Equity and Care for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities
Guest Contributors: Angela McClure and Katie DavisTexas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Nursing Nursing education must be rooted in ethical standards that promote compassionate, competent, and equitable care for all individuals, including those with intellectual disabilities (ID). The American Nursing Association Code of Ethics guidesd the delivery of compassionate and skilled care, ensuring … Continue reading Integrating the ANA Code of Ethics in Nursing Education: Advancing Equity and Care for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities
🤬 and Banned Words: Advancing our Scholarship and Activism of Outrage – Part II
My beloved aunt, my mother’s sister, was a Southerner, what one might have called a “genteel woman” who was never harsh but could be stern. There would be no thought of using a curse word; Heaven forfend! When the men cursed she said it was “a mite tee-jus” to have to listen. Should any of … Continue reading 🤬 and Banned Words: Advancing our Scholarship and Activism of Outrage – Part II
Banned Words and a Scholarship and Activism of Outrage
Introduction In their recent article, “Federal Government’s Growing Banned Words List Is Chilling Act of Censorship” (https://pen.org/banned-words-list/), Pen America compiled a list of 250 words unacceptable to the Trump administration that soon became a list of 350 words. Not to be outdone, Reuters, Gizmodo, The Washington Post, Propublica, More Perfect Union, Science, 404 Media, Popular … Continue reading Banned Words and a Scholarship and Activism of Outrage
Woe to those who make unjust laws
Ethical Knowing in NursingBlogs by Marsha Fowler Isaiah 10.1 Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees,2 to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.3 What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar?To whom will you run for … Continue reading Woe to those who make unjust laws
Moral Duty, Ethical Mandate: Why Nurses Must Champion Mental Health Access
Contributor, Frances Okpaluba Should nurses view mental health access as a moral responsibility or an ethical requirement? Although these terms are frequently used synonymously, they possess a slight variation. Ethics represents the structured analysis of morality, while morals demonstrate the principles that influence our individual and professional decisions. For nurses, ethics and morals matter deeply. … Continue reading Moral Duty, Ethical Mandate: Why Nurses Must Champion Mental Health Access
Theories behind the Magical Touch!
Contributor: Kunta Gautam My clinical practice as a pediatric nurse practitioner resides in an outpatient urgent care setting next to the hospital's emergency department. In this blog post, I will share a clinical encounter that inspired reflection on the meaning of my practice as a nurse . A 14-year-old girl came to the clinic because … Continue reading Theories behind the Magical Touch!
False Equivalencies in Nursing Ethics
Part 1: A Call for Moral Clarity Sally Thorne’s March 11 (2025) “We Were Made for These Times” editorial in Nursing Inquiry stimulated a lively discussion among nurse leaders about our ethical obligations (see for example, our Nursology.net March 21st post). Given the tumultuous challenges we are confronting every day now, the group was energized … Continue reading False Equivalencies in Nursing Ethics
Ethical Considerations in Grounded Theory Research: Peplau’s Theory, Pattern Recognition, and Psychological Safety in the Nurse-Patient Relationship
Guest Contributor: Jitana Benton-LeePhD student in nursing at Texas Women's University Research in nursing has long emphasized the importance of the nurse-patient relationship as a foundational component of care. However, as nurse scholars, we must also critically examine how we ethically engage in research that seeks to understand this relationship, particularly through grounded theory methodologies. … Continue reading Ethical Considerations in Grounded Theory Research: Peplau’s Theory, Pattern Recognition, and Psychological Safety in the Nurse-Patient Relationship
Connecting hearts, saving lives: Joyce Travelbee’s human-to-human relationship model in the compassionate nursing care of a patient with suicidal ideation
Guest Contributor: Joana Margarida Martins Fernandes “I’m tired of being alive”: these were the first words I heard leave Pedro's lips (name changed). Pedro was found at home after committing self-harm with suicidal intent. The resident made the call for help in another room at the hostel where he lived. When I arrived, I told … Continue reading Connecting hearts, saving lives: Joyce Travelbee’s human-to-human relationship model in the compassionate nursing care of a patient with suicidal ideation