Abstract
Nurses are having more and more difficulty distinguishing between ethical and legal aspects of nursing practice as health care becomes more and more complex. Conflicts between personal moral beliefs and codes of professional ethics may pose dilemmas for nurses, as may conflicts with other health care disciplines. To clarify those differences, this article will provide a brief introduction to basic ethical and legal principles that affect nursing practice in the United States.
References
1.
Donnelly GF
,
Mengel A.
,
Sutterley DC
The Nursing System: Issues, Ethics and Politics . New York : John Wiley and Sons;
1980 .
2.
Jameton A.
Nursing Practice: The Ethical Issues . Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall;
1984 .
3.
Aiken TD
with
Catalano J.
Legal, Ethical and Political Issues in Nursing . Philadelphia : F.A. Davis;
1994 .
4.
Davis A.
Ethical issues in nursing research . West J Nurs Res . 1990 ;12:128 -130 .
5.
Fiesta J.
The Law & Liability: A Guide for Nurses . New York : John Wiley & Sons;
1983 .
6.
Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 551 P.2d 334 (Cal.1976).
7.
Personal communication from George Annas JD, ethical and legal consultant to the Boston University School of Medicine; 1985.
8.
American Nurses' Association.
Nursing: A Social Policy Statement (Publ. No. NP-197 . Washington, DC : American Nurses' Association ; 1995 .
9.
Guido GW
Legal Issues in Nursing: A Source Book for Practice . Norwalk, CT : Appleton & Lange;
1988 .
10.
Bok S.
Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life . New York : Pantheon;
1978 .
11.Nurse's Legal Handbook . Springhouse, PA : Springhouse Corp ; 1985 .
12.
Wing KR
The Law and the Public's Health . 2 nd ed. Ann Arbor, MI : Health Administration Press ; 1985 .
13.
Evans D.
An ethical dilemma: the dishonest doctor . Nurs Forum.
1995 ;30 :5 -11 .
14.
Gilligan C.
In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's Development . Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press;
1982 .
15.
Husted GL
,
Husted JH
Ethical Decision Making in Nursing . St. Louis, MO : Mosby;
1991 .