Legal and Ethical Issues in Nursing Education: An Essential Guide

The 2021 edition of the Legal and Ethical Issues in Nursing Education: An Essential Guide does not disappoint the reader. This 398-page text is full of advice, case studies, facts, legal precedents, and academic wisdom. The four authors and twelve contributors have provided the Nursing community of educators and graduate students a solid foundation in the legal and ethical aspects of academia. One author holds a Juris doctor degree. My browsing of the Index caught my attention.There were dozens of case studies presented that illustrate the contemporary ethical issues facing nursing education and educators. Even though the university has its share of rules and regulations, there remains grey areas when decisions are made. For example, the Copyright Act of 1976 was illustrated with two case studies in Part III, Intellectual Property in Chapter 11. The section on when to consult the university counsel was useful and pragmatic. Universities are under pressure to continuously improve their national rankings and this issue of intellectual property is one of the criteria that require annual improvements in copyrights, patents, and trademarks, or at a minimum to maintain a high level of recognitions in this category.The student section was rich in information including academic freedom (4), disability issues (14), due process issues (5), mental health issues (15), and substance use issues (9). The major areas of disability and mental health were well represented in this section.Two chapters are dedicated to the topics of mental health and substance abuse. These topics are significant. A recent on-line survey from the fall 2020 from the Healthy Minds Network and lead bySarah K. Lipson found that among 33,000 college students across the US, more than half screened positive for anxiety and depression. In addition, 83% stated that within the past month their mental health negatively impacted their academic performance. Of the total students, two thirds were dealing with loneliness and isolation from the pandemic.There were four topics in the Index dedicated to the tenure process and the Age Discrimination Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967. The Act states that it is illegal for any employer, public or private, to discriminate against persons who are 40 year or older under the ADEA. In academia, the average age of full professors is 55 and the average age when tenure is granted is at 39. Whereas in Nursing academia, the AACN's report from 2019-2020, provided the ages in nursing academia. The average ages of doctorally-prepared nurse faculty holding the ranks of professor, associate professor, and assistant professor were 62.6, 56.9, and 50.9 years, respectively.There were references to “her.” This is problematic. Nursing has a long history of assuming that its members are all female. The 2017 National league for Nursing found that nursing faculty (N=13,305) were 93.2% female and 6.4% were male, that is no reason to use female pronouns. In the index there was not one reference to bias, gender, implicit, or stereotype.The authors have made a unique contribution with this new book and essential guide. The text is ideal to include in an ethics course for academicians and graduate students who plan to make a career in the professoriate. No book can include every topic, but this compendium to the ethical and legal aspects of nursing education belongs in your library of classic references.

This is a MUST-have book to guide all Nurse educators and academic administrators overseeing health science disciplines. Once my book arrived, I could not put the book down, reading it from cover to cover. It was even better than expected--and I expected it to be good! The case study approach kept my interest along with the scholarly breadth and depth the authors provided of the complex legal and ethical issues. This is an essential resource for your library if you seek success in your role preparing the next generation of competent and kind nurses, nursing faculty, and academic administrators.