An ethic of caring: conceptual and practical issues

The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of an ethic of care. Caring as a concept has long been associated with nursing, but in more recent times there has been a strong move to promote an ethic of care as a fundamental concept of nursing. Literature and a personal perspective are used to explore the concept of an ethic of care. It is a premise of this paper that care should be taken that an ethic of care, as currently described, does not contribute to nurses' powerlessness in ethical decision-making in the clinical area. Issues that need to be addressed include the inadequate articulation of the concept to inform and guide practice, and also the emotively laden language utilized by some writers. It is concluded that an ethic of care shows promise to advance nursing knowledge and practice and requires increased research and dialogue to clarify the concept.