Development of accountability in nursing students

Accountability is foundational to nursing ethics and professional practice; however, not all nursing students demonstrate this fundamental principle. A lack of accountability for practice can be a serious safety concern while limiting growth and development. Through professional experience, I found some nursing students demonstrated a deficit in understanding and could not apply the concept in the clinical environment. Leading to the question, how does specialized education about the importance of accountability in the nursing profession develop a student's understanding of the principle? Followed by the query, will the curriculum enable the student to demonstrate improved accountability in case-based scenarios? Retrospective action research was conducted using first-year nursing students' artifacts of learning to gain insight into how the curriculum impacts their understanding and ability to apply accountability. Mixed method research was used to compare pre-and post-theory assessments, which demonstrated an increased understanding of the principle of accountability and improved ability to apply to practice.