Everyday ethics

While dramatic issues such as assisted suicide and genetic engineering raise unique ethical questions for health care professionals, they are not the typical ethical concerns that nurses face in their daily practice. The more usual ethical situation or "everyday ethics" occur during the regular interactions that nurses have with patients, their families, and other health care providers. Everyday ethics is central to nursing practice. Being attuned to this aspect of professional practice gives meaning and purpose to nursing care. Typical clinical examples provide the backdrop for the discussion of everyday ethics. Through increasing their knowledge of ethical theory and values, their sensitivity to ethical issues in daily practice, their ability to use critical thinking, and their communication skills, nurses will be better able to provide ethically appropriate care to their patients.