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Virtue ethics and nursing: on what grounds?

Roger A Newham1

  • 1Society and Health, Buckinghamshire New University, London, UK.

Nursing Philosophy : an International Journal for Healthcare Professionals
|May 28, 2014
PubMed
Summary

This paper discusses the importance of character in nursing ethics, advocating for caution regarding the overemphasis on virtue ethics. It suggests linking psychological explanations with normative justifications for better ethical reasoning in nursing practice.

Keywords:
agencymoral theoryphronesis

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Area of Science:

  • Nursing Ethics
  • Moral Philosophy

Background:

  • The nursing ethics literature emphasizes the role of character in defining a 'good nurse'.
  • Character is often linked to actions, necessitating an examination of the nurse as an agent.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To provide an overview of the importance of character in nursing practice.
  • To analyze the relationship between character, virtue ethics, and nursing.
  • To recommend caution regarding the emphasis on character psychology and virtue ethics.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of nursing ethics and virtue ethics.
  • Philosophical analysis of character, virtue, and ethical justification.
  • Exploration of the relationship between psychological and normative aspects of character.

Main Results:

  • While character is crucial in nursing, excessive focus on virtue ethics and its psychological underpinnings requires caution.
  • A clear link between psychological explanations and normative justifications is needed.
  • Nursing practice may benefit from a two-level moral thinking approach, incorporating virtues and consequentialist criteria.

Conclusions:

  • Caution is advised in the application of virtue ethics in nursing due to its contested nature.
  • Nursing ethics should carefully consider the balance between character-based virtues and other ethical frameworks.
  • A potential framework involves virtues at one level and consequentialist/realist metaethics for critical evaluation at another.