title: Nursing by agreement: a contractarian perspective on nursing ethics.
abstract: Contractarianism has primarily been a political theory. A good argument can be made for its application to individual and professional ethics. A contractarian perspective on nursing ethics not only provides useful insights into the central relationship in nursing--the nurse and the patient--but also allows understanding of that relationship in the context of other relationships involving the nurse, the nursing profession, and the health care organization. While the nurse-patient contract is limited, its greater moral depth gives it moral priority.
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Community Studies, University of Derby, Mickleover, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wilmot
mesh_terms: D003284:Contract Services; D004993:Ethics, Nursing; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D016294:Models, Nursing; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D010687:Philosophy, Nursing; D011057:Politics