Nurse participation in ethical decision making in the clinical setting

Nurses, in their day-to-day practice, are required to combine clinical expertise with skill in moral judgment. Because of the nurse's unique relationship with the patient and a collaborative practice with the physician, the nurse often is at the forefront of identifying ethical dilemmas. In addition to identification of the ethical dilemma, the nurse often actively participates in the decision-making process. Ethical decision-making models bear some resemblance to the nursing process. The nurse plays an active role in each step of assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation. An increasing number of nurses are formally participating in ethical decision making as a member of hospital ethics committees. The three primary tasks of these committees are: (1) education; (2) policy development; and (3) case consultation. Nursing ethics committees also are being developed to address issues specific to nursing, such as nurse staffing ratios and allocation of nursing resources. Nurses can use ethical rounds or retrospective case studies to perpetuate the study of ethics at the bedside.