In literature as well as in nursing practice a growing concern about n
urses' ethical competence can be observed. Based on the cognitive theo
ry of moral development by Kohlberg, this research examined nursing st
udents' ethical behaviour in five nursing dilemmas. Ethical behaviour
refers not only to the ethical reasoning of nursing students but also
to the relationship between reasoning and behaviour. Kohlberg's defini
tion of morality was refined by adding a care perspective. The results
show that the majority of students can be located in the fourth moral
stage according to Kohlberg's theory, that is, the conventional level
of moral development. This finding implies that students are still gu
ided by professional rules, norms and duties, and have not (yet) succe
eded in making personal ethical decisions on the basis of their own pr
inciples and acting according to such decisions.