Ethical decision-making: exploring the four main principles in nursing.

Abstract

Nurses are regularly confronted with moral questions and ethical dilemmas in their practice, for example where a patient's decisions about their treatment conflict with the nurse's own views. While the standards contained in the Nursing and Midwifery Council The Code: Professional Standards of Practice and Behaviour for Nurses, Midwives and Nursing Associates provide nurses with an overarching framework to guide practice, it is important that nurses understand the four main principles that underpin ethical care - autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice. This article examines these four principles and how they relate to nurses' ethical decision-making. The author also explores how nurses' ethics were tested by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Having an awareness of ethical decision-making can enhance nurses' practice by providing them with a theoretical framework for treating patients with dignity and respect.