On Alan Armstrong's 'Towards a Strong Virtue Ethics for Nursing Practice'

Area of Science:

• Nursing Ethics
• Virtue Ethics
• Moral Philosophy

Background:

• Armstrong (2006) posits that nursing practice inherently requires morally good character traits, or virtues, such as phronesis (practical wisdom).
• He asserts that nursing ethics should be fundamentally grounded in virtue ethics due to the unique nature of the nurse-patient relationship.
• Armstrong critiques obligation-centered and act-centered normative theories as insufficient for nursing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To advocate for virtue ethics as the most appropriate framework for nursing ethics.
• To highlight the inadequacy of traditional normative theories in capturing the complexities of nursing practice.
• To explore the philosophical underpinnings of virtue ethics in the context of healthcare.

Main Methods:

• Philosophical analysis of Armstrong's (2006) work.
• Critique of obligation- and act-centered ethical theories.
• Exploration of virtue ethics, including eudaimonistic and non-eudaimonistic approaches.

Main Results:

• Nursing practice necessitates a focus on virtues, character, emotions, and relationships, which are central to virtue ethics.
• Traditional ethical theories focusing solely on obligations or acts are incomplete for nursing.
• Armstrong's proposed eudaimonistic virtue ethics faces challenges in bridging 'good for' and 'good'.

Conclusions:

• Virtue ethics provides a more robust framework for nursing ethics than traditional normative theories.
• A non-eudaimonistic virtue ethics, as proposed by Swanton, may offer a more suitable model for nursing ethics.
• The focus should shift towards character, relationships, and patient-centered care in nursing ethics.