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Abstract Ethics is about making choices; and selecting criteria to establish right and wrong. However, having the choice is one thing; but having the choice put into action does not always follow. To overcome such confusion, professional ethics refers to practices, beliefs and standards of a certain group’s behavior. In the current study’s interest; unethical teachers’ behaviors comprise but are not limited to; lack of or obsolete subject knowledge, poor planning, lack of enthusiasm, failing to properly communicate to students, avoiding sensitive or embarrassing topics, violating confidentiality of students’ grades, records, or personal matters, inequality in treatment of students, showing disrespect - whether directly or indirectly- to students, colleagues, the employing institution or most dramatically to the profession. The faculty roles are more or less weaved into ethical principles of university teaching. Such ethical principles have been developed by the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, an organization based at York University in Canada. These principles comprise (content competence, pedagogical competence, dealing with sensitive topics, student development, dual relationships with students, confidentiality, valid assessment of students, respect for colleagues, and respect for the institution). Moreover, respect for the profession was added to the previous principles due to its extreme importance in the practice of a profession like nursing in Egypt. Internationally, few studies investigated ethical behavior in the nursing education context. Nationally, scarce studies concerning students’ and teachers’ points of view regarding the characteristics of the effective teachers, have been undertaken. In addition, El-Fouly (2004) investigated the “Professional Ethical Awareness among Nursing Educators at Faculties of Nursing” in Alexandria, Cairo, Assiut, and El Mansoura Universities against the ten ethical principles identified by the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education at York University in Canada. The study revealed that several ethical principles were seriously violated, although sometimes unintentionally, by nurse educators. Among them was “pedagogical competence”, “confidentiality”, and “respect for the profession”. For the above reasons and to help nursing students specify their expectations from their nurse educators, the researcher pursued the conduction of the present study, to develop a “Professional Ethics Manual for Nurse Educators” in Egypt, as the great value of such knowledge cannot be underestimated to both nurse educators and nursing students The study was conducted at Faculties of Nursing in Alexandria, Cairo, Ain-Shams, Assiut, & Zagazig Universities, the oldest in Egypt consecutively. Fifty percent of nurse educators and fifty percent of fourth academic year nursing students were selected randomly from each of the above-mentioned settings. The actual number of subjects from which data was collected was as follows; Alexandria; nurse educators: 86 & students: 140, Cairo; nurse educators: 54 & students: 102, Ain-Shams; nurse educators: 39 & students: 112, Assiut; nurse educators: 45 & students: 80 and Zagazig; nurse educators: 22 & students: 104. Total number of students included in the study from the five faculties= 538, while that of nurse educators = 246. |