Enhancing patients' autonomy

Although beneficence was the ethical principle applied most frequently in health care situations in the past, the principle of autonomy has gained importance recently. The current application of autonomy over beneficence results in a reconsideration of past "accepted" situations such as assuming informed consent is without coercion, students practicing on patients, and the use of cadavers for practicing techniques. The critical care nurse is in a unique position to assess and balance these two principles for the patient's ultimate benefit.