Ethics: A Pluralistic Approach To Moral Theory __TOP__

Moral dilemmas are present in all settings in which nurses work. Nurses are moral agents who must make moral decisions and take moral action in very complex social systems. Nurses are accountable for their actions, and it is therefore imperative that they have a solid foundation in ethics. There are multiple ethical frameworks nurses can utilize to justify their actions. A theory of moral ecology is presented here as a way to conceptualize the relationships between these frameworks. The first two steps of moral action, moral sensitivity and moral judgment, are explored in a pluralistic context. Specifically, multiple ethical frameworks that inform the practice of nursing are presented using an ecological model. Nurses work in a variety of practice environments, with different populations, across a spectrum of situations. An ecological model acknowledges that nurses are influenced by the complex social, and ethical, systems in which they find themselves taking moral action. When faced with ethical issues in practice, a nurse's moral sensitivity and moral judgment may be guided by ethical systems most proximal to the situation. Nurses bring individual moral beliefs to work and are influenced by the ethical directives of employers, the discipline's code of ethics, principles of bioethics, and various approaches to normative ethics (virtue, consequential, deontological, and care). Any of the frameworks presented may justifiably be applied in various nursing circumstances. I propose that the multiple ethical frameworks nurses utilize exist in a relationally nested manner and a model of moral ecology in nursing is provided.

Ethics: A Pluralistic Approach to Moral Theory

Ethical pluralism (also referred to as value pluralism) is a theory about the nature of the values or goods that human beings pursue, and the pursuit of which make up the substance of their moral lives. Most simply ethical pluralism holds that the values or goods legitimately pursued by human beings are plural, incompatible, and incommensurable. That is, there are many genuine human values, which cannot all be reduced to, or described in terms of, a single overriding value or system of values. This is because certain human values, by their very nature, come into conflict with other, equally valid, human values. Individual liberty, for instance, can conflict with equality, public order, or technological efficiency; impartial justice with compassion and mercy; scientific truth with public utility; and so on.

Walzer, Michael. (1983). Spheres of Justice: A Defence of Pluralism and Equality. New York: Basic Books. Develops a pluralistic theory of distributive justice, thus applying pluralism to questions of government policy. 041b061a72