title: Altruism and mature care: some rival moral considerations in care ethics.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We discuss Carol Gilligan's original concept of mature care in the light of the altruistic approach to caring and good clinical judgment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In particular, we highlight how the concept of mature care can capture important challenges in today's nursing. Further, we illuminate how mature care might differ normatively from an altruistic approach to caring and the traditional prudential virtues in nursing. We also discuss similarities between mature care and virtue ethics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  For nursing and nurses' identity, in today's health care system that is increasingly pressured to 'produce' health, we believe it is important to both developing further theories on mature care and having normative discussions about care.
authors.affiliation: University of Oslo, Norway m.h.hem@medisin.uio.no.
authors.forename: Marit Helene
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Hem
authors.affiliation: Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Norway.
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Halvorsen
authors.affiliation: University of Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nortvedt
mesh_terms: D000533:Altruism; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards; D004993:Ethics, Nursing; D006806:Human Rights / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D009014:Morals; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations / Q000941:ethics*; D009742:Nursing Theory; D028662:Principle-Based Ethics; D012945:Social Values
keywords: Altruism; clinical judgment; mature care; moral motivation; normativity; nursing care; virtues