Ethical Principles and Decision Making

Ethics is critical to any profession as those who apply ethical principles improve their relationships with clients, patients and coworkers. Ethics helps assure that things are fair and people are treated with dignity. The ethical dilemmas a nurse may encounter in the medical surgical arena are numerous and diverse. Nurses make decision everyday that must be taken into account laws and ethical standards. These are the problems that arise in clinical situation where decision must be made between alternatives that are equally undesirable. Such decision is guided by morally defensible principles. Ethical dilemmas are resolvable but not solvable. An awareness of underlying philosophical concepts will help the nurse to reason through these dilemmas. Understanding the various approaches and role of the professional nurse in ethical decision making will assist nurses in articulating their ethical positions and in developing the skills needed to make ethical decisions.