Theories are a collection of statements that establish a set of concepts (Timmons, 2012). Moral theories are a collection of mannerisms in which one need to behave or act to be regarded as either having acted in good or bad conduct. Moral theories are classified according to the set of principles applied. Hinman (2012) states that there are principles aligned to the good of a given set of principles, and others that are concerned with the good of the outcome of a given situation. The central concepts of moral theories, therefore, only meet where they all seek to ensure the wellbeing of a given situation.
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According to Holland (2010), all theories of nursing are aligned to the various moral theories. The main principles in the moral theories have been passed to the nursing sector, where they have been seen hugely to dominate the main concept of the nursing theories (Fawcett et al., 2012). For example, the moral ethics that dictates that an action can only be right in the case it aligns to a given set of moral principles. Most nursing theories are seen to a have their roots on this ethical requirement, where the practice of most nursing practitioners are considered as having been inspired by the set moral principles of everyday practice (Fawcett et al., 2012).
Nurses’ stories are fundamental in creating the relational ethic for nursing care (Wright et al., 2011). These stories assist in the creation of an atmosphere of care and concern between the practitioner and the client. Through this aspect, the nurse-patient relationship is built. Karnieli-Miller et al. (2011) assert that the concept of relational ethic for nursing care is based on this very idea, where the relationship between the practitioners and their clients is supposed to be that based on friendliness and good conduct.
Assisted euthanasia is a form of assisted suicide by the practitioners, whereby the clients are aided in killing themselves (Quaghebeur et al., 2009). According to Newham (2013), this practice is a massive violation of the nursing code of ethics, which puts the practitioner in charge of the client’s life until the client is brought out of his/her care. Looking at this practice through the lens of moral theory, the good is determined independently from the right (Newham, 2013). As such, euthanasia being what the client wants may not be right, but may be good for the client, hence can be justified.
References
Fawcett, J., & Desanto-Madeya, S. (2012). Contemporary nursing knowledge: Analysis and evaluation of nursing models and theories. FA Davis.
Hinman, L. (2012). Ethics: A pluralistic approach to moral theory. Cengage Learning.
Holland, S. (2010). Scepticism about the virtue ethics approach to nursing ethics. Nursing Philosophy, 11(3), 151-158.
Karnieli-Miller, O., Taylor, A. C., Inui, T. S., Ivy, S. S., & Frankel, R. M. (2011). Understanding Values in a Large Health Care Organization through Work-Life Narratives of High-Performing Employees. Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal, 2(4).
Newham, R. A. (2013). An internal morality of nursing: what it can and cannot do. Nursing Philosophy, 14(2), 109-116.
Quaghebeur, T., Dierckx de Casterlé, B., & Gastmans, C. (2009). Nursing and euthanasia: a review of argument-based ethics literature. Nursing ethics, 16(4), 466-486.
Timmons, M. (2012). Moral theory: An introduction. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Wright, D., & Brajtman, S. (2011). Relational and embodied knowing: Nursing ethics within the interprofessional team. Nursing ethics, 18(1), 20-30.
