Newswise — Healthcare providers must have a continued commitment to recognize and address ethical issues, including long-standing concerns as well as those that reflect changes in healthcare and in society as a whole.

A symposium of articles published in AACN Advanced Critical Care explores the ongoing ethical issues that persist in critical care and offers strategies to meet them today.

“Enduring Ethical Issues: Looking Back, Looking Forward” is a symposium of six articles that were previously published in the journal’s Ethics in Critical Care section. 

Cynda Hylton Rushton, PhD, RN, FAAN, and Melissa Kurtz Uveges, PhD, MA, RN, served as symposium editors. Rushton is the Anne and George L. Bunting Professor of Clinical Ethics and Nursing, School of Nursing and Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. Uveges is an assistant professor, William F. Connell School of Nursing, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

“By taking another look at these topics, we can note how ethical issues remain consistent over time, with new dimensions and nuances that have emerged, particularly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Rushton said. “Taken together, this collection of articles reinforces the ubiquitous nature of moral and ethical conundrums, as well as common sources and consequences. Attention to these important issues is vital for the nursing workforce and the people they serve.”

One of the persistent ethical issues in nursing is the perception that asking for support is a sign of weakness. In “Overcoming Stigma: Asking for and Receiving Mental Health Support,” Rushton -- with co-author Alanna Bergman, PhD, MSN, AGNP-BC, RN, who was a PhD candidate at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing when the article was published and is now a postdoctoral research fellow at University of Virginia School of Nursing – offers tangible steps for nurses, nursing leaders and organizations  to promote mental health and reduce the stigma associated with mental health and self-stewardship. 

Other ethics-related articles in the journal’s spring 2025 issue include: 

AACN Advanced Critical Care is a quarterly, peer-reviewed publication with in-depth articles intended for experienced critical care and acute care clinicians at the bedside, advanced practice nurses, and clinical and academic educators. Each issue also includes a topic-based symposium, feature articles and columns of interest to critical care and progressive care clinicians. 

Access the issue by visiting the AACN Advanced Critical Care website at http://acc.aacnjournals.org/.

: AACN Advanced Critical Care is a quarterly, peer-reviewed publication with in-depth articles intended for experienced critical care and acute care clinicians at the bedside, advanced practice nurses and clinical and academic educators. An official publication of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), the journal has a circulation of 1,500 and can be accessed at http://acc.aacnjournals.org/.

About the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses: For more than 50 years, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) has been dedicated to acute and critical care nursing excellence. The organization’s vision is to create a healthcare system driven by the needs of patients and their families in which acute and critical care nurses make their optimal contribution. AACN is the world’s largest specialty nursing organization, with about 130,000 members and nearly 200 chapters in the United States.

American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, 27071 Aliso Creek Road, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656; 949-362-2000; www.aacn.org; facebook.com/aacnface; x.com/aacnme