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Caring, virtue theory, and a foundation for nursing ethics
Scholarly Inquiry for Nursing Practice
|January 1, 1992
Summary
Virtue theory, while promising for nursing ethics, presents unresolved issues. It ultimately does not provide a viable alternative to traditional duty-based ethical frameworks in nursing practice.
Area of Science:
- Nursing Ethics
- Moral Philosophy
- Virtue Theory
Background:
- Traditional moral theories face challenges when applied to the nursing ideal of caring.
- Existing ethical frameworks may not adequately support the nuances of compassionate nursing practice.
Purpose of the Study:
- To critically evaluate virtue theory as a foundational framework for nursing ethics.
- To assess the suitability of virtue theory for embodying the caring ideal in nursing.
Main Methods:
- Review of problems with traditional moral theories in nursing ethics.
- Identification of adequacy conditions for ethical frameworks in nursing.
- Analysis of virtue theory's core concepts and its application to nursing ethics.
- Assessment of virtue theory against established adequacy conditions.
Main Results:
- Virtue theory shows potential in meeting identified adequacy conditions for nursing ethics.
- Significant secondary issues emerge with virtue theory that require further resolution.
- Virtue theory does not currently offer a fully viable alternative to duty-based ethical theories.
Conclusions:
- Virtue theory, despite its strengths, is not a fully adequate foundation for nursing ethics.
- Further development is needed to address the unresolved challenges before virtue theory can be practically applied in nursing.
- Duty-based theories remain a more established and currently viable option for nursing ethical frameworks.