Aspects of moral knowledge in nursing

The purpose of the article is to identify and clarify different aspects of moral knowledge in nursing and to discuss the relevance of these aspects to nursing practice, nursing ethics, and education. Moral action knowledge, theoretical-ethical, personal, and situational moral knowledge are identified as different aspects of moral knowledge in nursing. Moral integration refers to the coordination of the four aspects. Some controversies in contemporary nursing ethics are discussed in the light of the proposed notion of moral knowledge. The ethics of caring is discussed as a form of personal and situational moral knowledge. The notion of moral integration requires knowledge of abstract principles as well as virtue and caring as the foundation of nursing ethics.