[Justice and good nursing care]

In this article the value orientations of justice and of the good are analysed in their concrete meanings for nursing proceeding. Firstly, the usual interpretation of justice in the practice field which reduces it to economical justice of distribution, is criticized. A stronger orientation of justice to the criterion of adequacy is proposed as an alternative. This would make possible a synthesis between the two demands of a just care and of a good care and would permit the mediation of two value orientations that often seem to be irreconcilable in nursing practice. The definition of the contents of good care attributes high importance to the aspect of relation. Because the nursing relation is in its essence an asymmetrical relation, the dimension of power has a decisive importance in this context. This leads to the question which kind of conditions must be created to give nurses the opportunity to use the power that they get from their function in a responsible way and to cultivate an attitude of non-indifference toward those who need their help.