Nursing Ethics: A Virtue-Based Approach

ISBN-13: 9780230244191 / Angielski / Miękka / 2007 / 240 str.

Alan E Armstrong

Opis

Reacting against the dominance of obligation-based moral theories in both general and nursing ethics, the author proposes a 'strong' (action-guiding) account of a virtue-based approach to moral decision-making within contemporary nursing practice. Merits and criticisms of obligation- and virtue-based approaches to morality are identified and examined. One of the author's central premises is that the notions of moral goodness and badness carry more moral weight than the traditionally important notions of moral rightness and wrongness. Therefore, the author argues that in order to deliver morally good care, it is vital to consider the kind of nurse one is, and this means examining one's moral character. This book will be rewarding reading for a wide range of readers, including clinical nurses, nurse educators and nurse ethicists; indeed, anyone interested in morality and ethics and the work of nurses will find this book stimulating reading.

Spis treści

Introduction Illness, Narratives and the Value of the Nurse-Patient Relationship The Virtues in General Ethics A Critique of Obligation-Based Moral Theories in General Ethics The Origins, Development and Tenets of Virtue Ethics A Critical Account of Obligation-Based Moral Theories in Nursing Practice Virtue-Based Moral Decision-Making in Nursing Practice Macintyre's Account of the Virtues Macintyre's Account of the Virtues and the Virtue-Based Approach to Moral Decision-Making in Nursing Practice Conclusions Bibliography

O autorze

ALAN E. ARMSTRONG is Senior Lecturer in Nursing at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK.