Faculty Directory
Ashley Hurst headshot
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Ashley Robin Hurst

Assistant Professor
Unit: School of Nursing
Department: School of Nursing
Office location and address
202 Jeanette Lancaster Way
Charlottesville, Virginia 22903
Biography

Ashley Hurst, an attorney, former partner at an Atlanta firm where she practiced employment discrimination law, earned a master's of divinity and a master's of religious ethics. Hurst teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on clinical and legal ethics in healthcare to nursing students and others across Grounds. The former Thomas G. Bell Clinical Ethics Fellow in the Center for Biomedical Ethics and Humanities in the UVA School of Medicine, Hurst earned degrees from the University of Florida, Yale Divinity School, and the University of Virginia.

Her research focuses on preventative ethics - setting up systems that allow clinicians to assess situations that are likely to become ethics dilemmas, and intervene beforehand - and moral distress. A regular presentor, she has published papers on moral distress and narrative ethics topics.

Recent courses as listed in the Student Information System (SIS) Course Catalog:
NUIP 2310: REAL I (Research, Ethics, Advocacy, & Leadership)
Credits: 3
REAL I seminar provides foundational and theoretical principles of research/scholarship, ethics, advocacy/roles, and leadership. Students use historical inquiry, primary source materials, literature search, critical thinking and reflective writing to meet SWR; explore ethics, morals, religion and law and the complex interplay of the nursing caregiver/advocate roles. Students develop self-awareness to support ownership of learning trajectory.
NUIP 2311: Research, Ethics, Advocacy, and Leadership: Intro to Professional Practice
Credits: 2
REAL I seminar provides foundational & theoretical principles of research, ethics, advocacy, & leadership. Students use historical inquiry, primary source materials, literature search, critical thinking, & reflective writing to explore ethical & accountable nursing practice's relationship to ethics, morals, religion, & law & the complex interplay of the advocate roles. Students develop self-awareness to support ownership of learning trajectory.
PAVS 4500: Pavilion Seminar
Credits: 3
The Pavilion Seminars are open, by instructor permission, to 3rd and 4th year students. They are 3-credit, multidisciplinary seminars, focused on big topics and limited to max. 15 students each. For detailed descriptions of current offerings, see http://college.artsandsciences.virginia.edu/PAVS.
GNUR 5230: Ethical and Legal Issues in Health Care
Credits: 2–3
This seminar introduces students to the ethical and legal issues undergirding today's major healthcare issues. Students will engage US case law, ethical theories and public policy to grapple with the impact these issues have on current and future provision of health care.
GNUR 5240: Ethics and Clinical Practice
Credits: 3
Designed to enhance the student's ability to describe & analyze ethical concepts foundational to nursing practice; use a variety of ethical decision-making frameworks to analyze ethical dilemmas in practice; & play a leadership role in promoting ethical health care delivery. Emphasizes the unique ethical perspectives of nursing in the complex healthcare arena. Students will be challenged to examine individual & professional values.
GNUR 6058: Nursing, Ethics, and the Larger Healthcare Arena
Credits: 3
This course is designed to enhance the student's ability to: describe and analyze ethical concepts foundational to nursing practice, utilize decision-making frameworks to analyze ethical dilemmas in nursing practice, and play a leadership role in promoting ethical health care. Course emphasizes the ethical perspective of nursing in the health care arena. Students will examine personal values and analyze diverse perspectives on ethical issues. Prerequisite: Graduate standing or instructor permission.