Biomaterial Database

Care: an ethical foundation for critical care nursing. 1995

A L Gaul

Critical care nursing by definition focuses on human responses to life-threatening problems. An increasing number of ethical dilemmas confronts the critical care nurse. A traditional principled orientation to ethical reasoning requires detachment that does not acknowledge the special nature of the nurse-patient relationship and, by itself, does not give satisfactory direction in resolving ethical dilemmas. An ethic of care that acknowledges the special relationship and connection of one human being with another may provide the necessary guidance to assist the nurse in resolving these dilemmas. Critical care nursing practice based on an ethic of care acknowledges and legitimizes care for patients as well as oneself.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D003422	Critical Care	Health care provided to a critically ill patient during a medical emergency or crisis.	Intensive Care,Intensive Care, Surgical,Surgical Intensive Care,Care, Critical,Care, Intensive,Care, Surgical Intensive
D003657	Decision Making	The process of making a selective intellectual judgment when presented with several complex alternatives consisting of several variables, and usually defining a course of action or an idea.	Credit Assignment,Assignment, Credit,Assignments, Credit,Credit Assignments
D004645	Empathy	An individual's objective and insightful awareness of the feelings and behavior of another person. It should be distinguished from sympathy, which is usually nonobjective and noncritical. It includes caring, which is the demonstration of an awareness of and a concern for the good of others. (From Bioethics Thesaurus, 1992)	Caring,Compassion
D004993	Ethics, Nursing	The principles of proper professional conduct concerning the rights and duties of nurses themselves, their patients, and their fellow practitioners, as well as their actions in the care of patients and in relations with their families.	Nursing Ethics,Ethic, Nursing,Nursing Ethic
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D016294	Models, Nursing	Theoretical models simulating behavior or activities in nursing, including nursing care, management and economics, theory, assessment, research, and education. Some examples of these models include Orem Self-Care Model, Roy Adaptation Model, and Rogers Life Process Model.	Nursing Models,Model, Nursing,Nursing Model,Orem Self-Care Model,Model, Orem Self-Care,Models, Orem Self-Care,Orem Self Care Model,Orem Self-Care Models,Self-Care Model, Orem,Self-Care Models, Orem