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Ethical Issues

Ethical Issues

Nurses are essential in patient care, upholding the ethical principles of their profession and effectively navigating ethical dilemmas. Neglecting ethical issues can lead to inadequate patient care, compromised therapeutic relationships, and moral distress among healthcare workers.
Ethical Concerns in Healthcare:

Ethical Dilemmas I

Ethical Dilemmas I

Ethical dilemmas in nursing are of utmost importance, as they often arise from the tension between adhering to core ethical principles and the practical realities of healthcare delivery. These dilemmas require nurses to navigate complex situations where competing ethical considerations pull them in different directions.
Let us explore some examples to understand the potentially complex moral decisions nurses face.
Take the case of caring for minors, particularly in areas related to reproductive...

Nursing Code of Ethics

Nursing Code of Ethics

The Nursing Code of Ethics sets the ethical benchmark for the profession, and guides nurses in ethical analysis and decision making at the societal, organizational, and clinical levels. The code encompasses showing compassion and respect for the patient, their families, and communities in all circumstances while committing to providing patient-centered care. In addition, the code states that nurses must advocate for the patient by defending a cause or recommendation to protect their rights,...

Ethical Standards I

Ethical Standards I

The American Nurses Association (ANA) created and implemented the first nationally accepted Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements. The Code of Ethics is a living document regularly updated by the ANA and establishes an ethical standard that is non-negotiable for nurses in all roles and settings.
The Code of Ethics provisions outline the nurse's duty to the patient, the healthcare team, the profession, and society. The Code's fundamental principles include advocacy,...

Nursing Ethical Principles I

Nursing Ethical Principles I

Ethical principles serve as the moral compass in the longstanding tradition of nursing, guiding healthcare professionals in their interactions with patients and families. These principles, namely autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, and fidelity, provide a robust framework for navigating the ethical complexities of daily nursing practice.
Autonomy
Autonomy underscores the significance of a patient's self-determination and freedom from external control. In healthcare, respecting...

Nursing Ethical Principles II

Nursing Ethical Principles II

Ethical principles are essential in guiding nurses to fulfill their responsibilities, focusing on the quality of nursing care and decision-making. These principles, including autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, and fidelity, shape the ethical framework within healthcare settings.
Consider the following scenario, which illustrates how these principles are applied in the care of Mr. John, a fifty-year-old teacher diagnosed with metastatic liver cancer.
Initially, Mr. John's...

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Nurse practitioner ethicist reconsidered: A nominally flawed proposition?

Pamela J Grace¹, Aimee B Milliken¹, Christopher M Charles²

¹Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA.

|April 29, 2026

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This paper argues that while nurse practitioners are nurses in advanced roles, their ethical accountability differs from clinical ethicists. Nursing ethics and clinical ethics have distinct goals and origins.

Keywords:

clinical ethics codes of ethics ethics and leadership/management nurse practitioner ethicist rebuttal professional ethics

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Area of Science:

Bioethics
Nursing Science

Background:

Distinction between nursing as a discipline/practice and clinical ethics as an emerging discipline.
Acknowledging professional background can inform secondary endeavors like clinical ethics.

Purpose of the Study:

To present a counterargument to the thesis that nurse practitioner ethicists are distinct from nurse ethicists.
To clarify the differing goals and accountability of nursing ethics and clinical ethics.

Main Methods:

Analysis of the distinction between nursing and clinical ethics.
Expanded definition of nursing ethics, including historical development and codes of conduct.
Examination of nurse practitioner roles and accountability.

Main Results:

Nursing and clinical ethics possess distinct reasons for existence and incommensurable goals.
Nurse practitioners, despite expanded roles, remain accountable to nursing codes of ethics.
Nurses functioning as clinical ethicists are accountable to the principles of clinical ethics.

Conclusions:

The roles of nurse practitioner ethicists and clinical ethicists are distinct due to differing ethical frameworks and accountabilities.
Understanding the unique goals of nursing ethics and clinical ethics is crucial for professional practice.