Biomaterial Database

Principles and methods of ethical decision making in critical care nursing. 1997

N S Jecker

Department of Medical History and Ethics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, USA.

Consideration of the ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice can help to equip critical care nurses to deal with ethical conflicts that arise in nursing practice. Properly understood, these principles do not function as inflexible absolutes, but instead serve as "moral compasses" that help the nurse to get his or her bearings in difficult or uncertain situations. Those who appeal to the four principles should recognize that other cultural traditions may regard other ethical values as central. Finally, to the extent that principlism neglects ethical concerns related to caring and personal relationships, this approach is incomplete. Nurses and others who invoke an ethic of caring can advance ethical understanding by contributing a careful analysis of this concept and its role in ethical decision making.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008128	Logic	The science that investigates the principles governing correct or reliable inference and deals with the canons and criteria of validity in thought and demonstration. This system of reasoning is applicable to any branch of knowledge or study. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed & Sippl, Computer Dictionary, 4th ed)	Logics
D010344	Patient Advocacy	Promotion and protection of the rights of patients, frequently through a legal process.	Patient Ombudsmen,Patient Representatives,Clinical Ombudsman,Patient Ombudsman,Advocacy, Patient,Ombudsman, Clinical,Ombudsman, Patient,Ombudsmen, Patient,Patient Representative,Representative, Patient,Representatives, Patient
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
D019513	Feminism	The theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes and organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests. (Webster New Collegiate Dictionary, 1981)	Feminist Ethics,Ethics, Feminist