The respectful nurse.
Respect is much referred to in professional codes, in health policy documents and in everyday conversation. What respect means and what it requires in everyday contemporary nursing practice is less than clear. Prescriptions in professional codes are insufficient, given the complexity and ambiguity of everyday nursing practice. This article explores the meaning and requirements of respect in relation to nursing practice. Fundamentally, respect is concerned with value: where ethical value or worth is present, respect is indicated. Raz has argued that the two ways of encountering value are to respect and to engage with it. The former requires acknowledgement and preservation. Respect in nursing practice necessarily requires also engagement. Respect is an active value and can be conceptualized within the context of virtue ethics as a hybrid virtue having both intellectual and ethical components. Examples from the literature are provided to illustrate situations where the respectful nurse requires these components or capabilities.
Gallagher
Ann
A
Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences, Kingston University and St George's University of London, Sir Frank Lampl Building, Kingston Hill, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT2 7LB, UK. agallagh@hscs.sgul.ac.uk
D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D032781:Codes of Ethics; D006801:Humans; D009014:Morals; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations / Q000941:ethics*; D010344:Patient Advocacy / Q000941:ethics*; D010687:Philosophy, Nursing; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012945:Social Values; D006113:United Kingdom; D028722:Virtues