Ethical Theory In Nursing

Ethics is crucial in the practice of medicine. There are many moral dilemmas that nurses deal with on a daily basis and there are two branches of ethical theories that we can put to use to help guide ethical decision making in daily medical practice. Deontology is an ethical theory that translates as the of the study of duty. This theory focuses on rules and duties. The influential philosopher name Immanuel Kant is associated with Deontology. Kant’s deontological perspective entails that people are sensitive to moral duties that require or restrict certain behaviors, regardless of the consequences (Tanner, Medin, & Iliev, 2008). The doctor-patient interaction or relationship is by nature, deontological since medical teaching practices instill this tradition, and when this deontological practice is breached, the context of medical negligence arises (Mandal, 2016). …show more content…
An example of this would be you feeding a neighbors fish while they were out of town, but you overfed it and it died before they came back. But according to Kant, since you had good intentions you are not at fault for the fish dying. Kant made a contrast between two types of duties which are hypothetical imperatives and categorical imperatives. These are Kant's rules to guide people in thinking about their duty. Hypothetical imperatives are rules or duties people should observe if certain results are to be achieved. Hypothetical imperatives are sometimes called “if-then” imperatives, which are conditional. For example, “If I want an A in this class, then I need to put in the