Non Beneficence In Nursing

Beneficence and non-maleficence relate to doing good to others. Beneficence means we should do good to others and avoid doing harm to them while non-maleficence asks us not to intentionally or unintentionally inflict harm on others. Beneficence refers to an attitude of good will towards others whereas non-maleficence refers to the action of doing well and doing no harm whatsoever. Beneficence is more lenient than non-maleficence. According to Vaughn, “a health care professional violates the principle if he or she deliberately perform an action that harms a patient.” Another violation of this principle is subjecting patients to unnecessary risk is wrong even if no damage is done. In non-maleficence, physicians must use due care to treat their patients. …show more content…
An example of beneficence is noticing a patient who is an addict struggling to get over cocaine, and you notice him hallucinating and scratching himself from an overdose. The best thing to do in this situation is not to give morphine to help reduce the pain because it is illogical to cure a drug addiction with another drug, but to enroll him in a rehabilitation center. If the patient is causing harm towards himself or others, it may be necessary to put restraints on him although that may go against one’s autonomy, but paternalism approves of this. Another example of beneficence is an elderly patient falls at home and has a fractured hip. In the emergency room, the nurse acts to provide pain medication as soon as possible in an act of beneficence