Legal Ethics Of Nursing

For action. Second, the principles themselves can conflict  in a given situation and there is no independent basis for resolving the conflict. Third, some persons claim  that effective ethical problem solving must be rooted in conccerete,  individual experiences. Fourth,  ethical judgments are alleged to depend more on the  judgment of sensitive person than on the application of abstract principles.

Autonomy is often emphasized in acute care setting, whereas beneficence and distributive justice are more emphasized in community and public health. For this reason, it is useful to consider other models for ethical decision making. Utilitarianism and deontology where developed from the enlightenment’s focus on universals, rationality, and isolated individuals. Each theory maintains that there is a universal first principle, the principle of utility for utilitarianism and the categorical imperative for deontology, that serves as a rational norm for our behavior and allows us to calculate the rightness or wrongness of each  individual action. Both utilitarianism and deontology, like classic liberalism, say that the individual is the special center of moral concern (Arras and Steinbock, 1999). giving  priority to individual rights and needs means that  the “rights and dignity of the individual should never (or rarely) be sacrified to the interests  of the larger society (Arras and Steinbock, 1999, p26).

HOW TO

Apply the Deontological Ethics Decision Process

determine the moral rules (e.g., tell the truth) that serve as standards by which individuals can perform their moral obligation. examine personal motives for proposed action to ensure that they are based on good intention in accord with moral rules. determine whether the proposed action can be generalized so that all person in similar situations are treated similarly. select the action that treat person as ends in themselves and never as mere means to the end of others. note : Remember that the deontological ethic decision process is one of the approaches in step 5 of the generic ethical decision-making framework.

HOW TO

Apply the Principlism Ethics Decision Process

Determine the ethical principles (respect for autonomy, non maleticence, beneficence, justice) that are relevant to an ethical issue or dilemma. Analyze the relevant principles within a meaningful context of accurate fact and other pertinent circumstances. Act on the principle that provides, within the meaningful context, the strongest guide to action that can be morally justified by the tenets foundational to the principle. Note : Remember  that the principlism ethics decision process is one of the approaches in step 5 of the generalethical decision-making framework.

The focus on individual rights lead to complications in the interpretation of distributive or social justice.

Distributive or social justice refers to the allocation of benefits and burdens to members of society. Benefits refers to basic needs, including material and social goods, liberties, rights, and titlements. Some benefits of society are wealth, education and public services. Among the burdens to be shared are such thinfs as taxes, military service, and the location of incinerators and power plants. Justice requires that the distribution of benefits and burdens in a society be fair or equal. It is widely agreed that the distribution should be based on what one needs and deserves, but there is considerable disagreement as to what these terms mean. Three primary theories of distributive justice are defended today. They are the egalitarian, libertarian, and lliberal democratic theories.

Egalitarianism is the view that everyone is entitled to equal rights and equal treatment in society, ideally, each individual has an equal share of the goods of society and it is the role government has the authority to redistribute wealth if necessary to ensure equal treatment. Thus egalitarians are supportive of welfare right that is, the right to receive certain social goods necessary to satisfy basic needs. These include adequate food, housing, education, and police and fire protection (Boss, 1998). There are practical and theoretical weaknesses in egalitarianism. For example, it would be almost impossible to ensure the equal distribution of goods and services in ani moderately complex society. Assuming that such a distribution could be accomplished, it would require a coercive authority to maintain it (Hellsten, 1998). Also, egalitarianism cannot provide an incentive for each of us to do our best because there is no promise of our merit being rewarded.

The libertarian view of justice say that the right to private property is the most important right. Libertarians recognize only liberty rights. The right to be left alone to accomplish our goals. Helisten (1988) notes,”The central feature of libertarian view on distributive justice is that it is totally individualist. It rejects any idea that societies, states, or collectives of any form can be the bearers of rights or can owe duties” (p.  822). Libertarians see a  limited role for government, namely the protctionof property right of individual citizens through providing police and fire protection. Altrough they also agree that there is a need for jointly shared, publicly owned facilities such as roads, they reject the idea of welfare right and view taxes to support the needs  of others as coercive taking of the property. Given the libertarian rejection of the priority of the state, however, it is not clear where the right to property comes from (Hellsten, 1998).

Rawls (2001), discussing the liberal democratic theory, attempts to develop a theory that values both liberty and equality. He acknowledges that inequities are inevitable in society, but the tries to justify them by establishing a system in which everyone benefits, especially the least advantaged. This is an attempt to addres the inequalities that result.