In the spirit of creativity: the learning and teaching of ethics in nursing

AIM: This paper discusses the development of a pedagogy that nurtures not only the caring and the critical, but also the creative spirit of nursing. To explore the idea of creative pedagogy the learning/teaching of ethics in nursing is considered. BACKGROUND: Based on the understanding of ethics as a deeply personal process that is lived in the complexity and ambiguity of everyday nursing work I describe a pedagogy that seeks to support students to 'become' moral agents -- to see ethics as something they are, not merely as something they follow, and to develop the knowledge and ability to live in and navigate their way through the complex, ambiguous, and shifting terrain of ethical nursing practice. An example of one student's experience is used to illustrate how a pedagogy of creativity can promote the development of students' creative capacity in their everyday ethical practice.