The authors bring experience, expertise and a deep commitment to their disciplines to the course and, most important, to their students’ learning and professional development. Each is a gifted teacher. Yet, one of the most exciting and novel features of their text is the way in which, along with the course as a whole, it reflects the shared endeavor of teaching and learning. In the classroom and through online discussion boards, Steele and Monroe engage students by inviting them to share exemplars from their own practice that illustrate the themes embedded in the Code along with the norms of Christian discipleship mapped out in the Bible. In short, they recognize that each person in the classroom—whether student or teacher—contributes to the experience of learning. In doing so, the principles and practices come alive.
The clinical exemplars shared throughout the text will resonate with the nurses or other practitioners who read this book. Too often, texts regarding ethical conflicts feature profound ethical dilemmas such as euthanasia, assisted suicide, abortion or organ transplant, to name a few. Most clinicians will encounter few, if any, large-scale ethical dilemmas. In contrast, the exemplars included here reflect the countless real-life, day-to-day situations that nurses and other clinicians confront in their practice that demand ethical comportment and decision-making. Nurses from all specialties will recognize the scenarios shared precisely because the authors of the exemplars are practicing, bedside nurses.
Another feature of this work that sets it apart from other ethics texts is the inclusion of classic works of art to convey the central themes. The selected images add another layer of depth to a very rich narrative. Taken together, the art, along with the biblical and professional narratives, illustrate the human experience that grounds and frames nursing practice.
Any ethics text runs the risk of becoming a discussion of ethical dos and don’ts. Here, Steele and Monroe elegantly weave a narrative that builds a foundation for understanding the ANA Code as well as providing guidance for action in alignment with the same. One perspective shared as a part of a student’s course feedback offers a succinct summary not only of the course from which Christian Ethics and Nursing Practice was born but also of the gifted teaching and writing of Steele and Monroe:
While this course served as a religious requirement, the course as a whole beautifully integrated faith with the nursing profession in a seamless manner. The readings and in-class discussions emphasized the overlap and sparked rich dialogue between a diverse religious cohort.
To create a tapestry of such varied backgrounds, perspectives, and goals for learning and nursing practice demands gifted teachers, wise scholars and committed professionals. As readers, we are fortunate beneficiaries of what I hope will become a valued resource for nursing ethics for faculty, students and practicing nurses alike.
—Lorie M. Wild, PhD, RN, NEA-BC
Dean, School of Health Sciences
Seattle Pacific University
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the following colleagues at Seattle Pacific University (SPU), Seattle, Washington, for their gracious help, through gifts of time and talent, with this project: Katie Bennett, Administrative Assistant, Graduate Nursing; Carrie Fry, Sciences Librarian; Kristen Hoffman, Psychology and Scholarly Communications Librarian; Kieran Jackson, Computer and Information Systems Helpdesk Lead Technician; David Nienhuis, Professor of New Testament; Steve Perisho, Theology and Philosophy Librarian; Frank A. Spina, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament; Lorie M. Wild, Dean of the School of Health Sciences and Professor of Nursing; and Dominic Williamson, Senior Instructional Designer: Graphics/Illustration. Special mention must be made here of our dearly departed colleague, James O. Mitre, Instructor of Psychiatric Nursing, who deeply cared for others and often shared the story used in chapter 3 to help students learn. Jim’s untimely death in 2014 brought sorrow to our campus and to the wider Seattle healthcare community.
Our special gratitude goes to the graduate nursing students at SPU in the autumn 2017, spring 2018, and spring 2019 sections of NUR 6301 Values, Faith and Ethics, who used early drafts of this work as a course text. Their “clinical voices” can be heard throughout the book. We also wish to thank the following student workers in the SPU School of Health Sciences for their logistical assistance in the preparation of the manuscript: Sophia Hamann, Rachel Johanson, Caitlyn Schnider and Michelle Anastacio Trujeque.
Two colleagues from other institutions—Valorie Orton, Assistant Professor of Nursing at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon, and Gerald Sittser, Professor of Theology and Senior Fellow in the Office of Church Engagement at Whitworth University, Spokane, Washington—carefully reviewed the manuscript and offered many kind suggestions for its improvement. We are deeply in their debt.
We also wish to express our appreciation for the assistance given us by Meghan Brown, Permissions Associate at Art Resource, New York, New York, and Zhanna Etsina, Manager, Rights and Reproductions Office, The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia, in securing licenses for and high-resolution images of several of the pieces of artwork used in this volume.
Finally, we wish to thank our spouses, Marilyn Hair and Joseph Monroe, for the countless ways in which their love blesses our lives daily, and particularly for the patience and support they unfailingly offered us as this book grew from dream to reality.
Abbreviations
General
ANA American Nurses Association
APRN Advanced practice registered nurse
Code ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements
NRSV New Revised Standard Version
NT New Testament
OT Old Testament
RN Registered nurse
RSV Revised Standard Version
SPU Seattle Pacific University
V. (vv.) Verse (verses)
Scripture
Hebrew Bible / Old Testament:
Gen Genesis
Exod Exodus
Lev Leviticus
Num Numbers
Deut Deuteronomy
Josh Joshua
Judg Judges
Ruth Ruth
1–2 Sam 1–2 Samuel
1–2 Kgs 1–2 Kings
1–2 Chr 1–2 Chronicles
Ezra Ezra
Neh Nehemiah
Esth Esther
Job Job
Ps (pl. Pss) Psalms
Prov Proverbs
Eccl Ecclesiastes
Song Song of Solomon
Isa Isaiah
Jer Jeremiah
Ezek Ezekiel
Dan Daniel
Hos Hosea
Joel Joel
Amos Amos
Obad Obadiah
Jonah Jonah
Mic Micah
Nah