A nurse bases ethical decisions on the effect, or consequences, an act will have and uses the following guidelines: the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Which ethical system is the nurse using?
a. Legal
b. Deontology
c. Utilitarianism
d. Ethics of care
C
Utilitarianism guides us to measure the effect, or consequences, that an act will have. The great-est good for the greatest number of people is the guiding principle for action in this system. By comparison, deontology focuses less on consequences and looks to the presence of pure prin-ciples of autonomy, justice, fidelity, beneficence, and nonmaleficence. Ethical issues differ from legal issues. Legal issues are resolved by reference to laws that tend to be concrete and publicly determined. Ethics of care suggest that health care workers resolve ethical dilemmas by paying attention to relationships and stories of the participants and by promoting a fundamental act of caring.
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