Ethical & Legal Issues in Canadian Nursing -
Chapter 2
1. Rationality: The notion of thinking and reasoning, associated with
comprehension, intelligence, or inference. Requires explanations, or
justifications, particularly for the purpose of supporting an opinion of conclusion.
2. Biomedical ethics: A field of ethics that focuses on issues associated with
science, medicine, and health care.
3. Ethical theory: A framework of assumptions and principles intended to guide
decisions about morality.
4. Nursing ethics: The study of moral questions that fall within the sphere of
nursing practice and nursing science.
5. Morality: That which defines what is good, or moral. It is the distinction between
what is right and what is wrong conduct or behaviour based on the tradition or
beliefs of norms within a culture or society.
6. Descriptive ethics: A systematic explanation of moral behaviour or beliefs.
7. Metaethics: A philosophical focus on the meaning and nature of morality and
ethics
8. Virtue: A characteristic of a person that promotes good or high ethical standards.
9. Applied ethics: The application of particular ethical theories to actual problems
or issues.
10. Ethical dilemma: A situation in which the most ethical course of action is
unclear, in which there is a strong moral reason to support each of several
positions, or in which a decision must be made based on the most right or the
least wrong choice of action.
11. Moral distress: Stress caused by situations in which one is convinced of what
is morally right but is unable to act; results when moral issues are unresolved and
when supportive processes are not in place.
12. Ethical Principles: A set of values based on ethical theory and intended to
guide right action. Derived from moral theory, ethical principles or rules, guide
moral conduct and provide a framework for ethical decision making. They are
expressed in many professional codes of ethics.
13. Value: An ideal that has significant meaning or importance to an individual, a
group, or a society.
14. Cultural relativism: The view that individual and group responses to morality
are relative to the norms and values of that particular culture or society, or to the
specific situation. Also called normative relativism.
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Chapter 2
1. Rationality: The notion of thinking and reasoning, associated with
comprehension, intelligence, or inference. Requires explanations, or
justifications, particularly for the purpose of supporting an opinion of conclusion.
2. Biomedical ethics: A field of ethics that focuses on issues associated with
science, medicine, and health care.
3. Ethical theory: A framework of assumptions and principles intended to guide
decisions about morality.
4. Nursing ethics: The study of moral questions that fall within the sphere of
nursing practice and nursing science.
5. Morality: That which defines what is good, or moral. It is the distinction between
what is right and what is wrong conduct or behaviour based on the tradition or
beliefs of norms within a culture or society.
6. Descriptive ethics: A systematic explanation of moral behaviour or beliefs.
7. Metaethics: A philosophical focus on the meaning and nature of morality and
ethics
8. Virtue: A characteristic of a person that promotes good or high ethical standards.
9. Applied ethics: The application of particular ethical theories to actual problems
or issues.
10. Ethical dilemma: A situation in which the most ethical course of action is
unclear, in which there is a strong moral reason to support each of several
positions, or in which a decision must be made based on the most right or the
least wrong choice of action.
11. Moral distress: Stress caused by situations in which one is convinced of what
is morally right but is unable to act; results when moral issues are unresolved and
when supportive processes are not in place.
12. Ethical Principles: A set of values based on ethical theory and intended to
guide right action. Derived from moral theory, ethical principles or rules, guide
moral conduct and provide a framework for ethical decision making. They are
expressed in many professional codes of ethics.
13. Value: An ideal that has significant meaning or importance to an individual, a
group, or a society.
14. Cultural relativism: The view that individual and group responses to morality
are relative to the norms and values of that particular culture or society, or to the
specific situation. Also called normative relativism.
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