SONEI represents an exciting opportunity for nursing to consolidate its power for good. We are a society interested in promoting nursing ethics globally. We start with what we are about: an explanation of what we mean by ‘nursing ethics’ as opposed to other types of ethics. While SONEI is only beginning, we anticipate sharing ideas, strategies, and collaborating on behalf of patients, communities, and societies. A good starting place is to become clear about what we think nursing ethics is and what it is not (apologies to Florence Nightingale). 

Discussions with nursing and non-nursing colleagues about ethics, especially nursing ethics, vary in characterization. For example, the AACN essentials for BSN education¹  assumes nursing ethics as grounded in Beauchamp and Childress’ healthcare ethics principles rather than nursing’s goal and perspectives. Only in an AACN accessory curriculum concept map, provided by Carol Taylor, Sarah Vitone and myself in 2021² is nursing ethics defined and exemplified. Confusion about meaning leaves us susceptible to the influence of others who do not share our perspectives and weakens our ability to advocate for those we serve. 

Nursing ethics is an applied professional ethics; a branch of the broader applied ethics. Applied ethics are derived from Moral (ethical) Philosophy or the quest to know what good foundations for human actions are. Moral philosophizing over the centuries provided  a number of moral (ethical) theories, each reaching different conclusions about what constitutes a good action. Thus, no one theory does or can underlie ethical nursing or healthcare practice. As a point of clarity, the terms ‘moral’ and ethical’ are interchangeable related to healthcare both refer to rules for good action;⁴ etymologically derived from Latin and Greek respectively. 

As a result of my studies in philosophy, ethics, and applied ethics, coupled with extensive experiences in nursing and nursing education I understand Nursing Ethics as two interrelated things only separable for discussion purposes. The first sense is a field of inquiry that delineates nursing’s focus, range, purpose and nurses’ responsibilities. It is the exploration of why nursing exists, what our unique contributions to human functioning, wellbeing, and even flourishing are. This first sense, by focus, does not overlap with other healthcare professions. It is about us and the scope and limits of our practice.

The second sense is the ethics of nursing practice. This arises from the first sense. It is always somewhat tentative; as practice conditions change so must our strategies for continuing to provide a human ‘good’. This second actual practice sense, while grounded in nursing goals and perspectives, shares some aspects with other healthcare professions and other clinical disciplines because to provide, or provide for, good nursing care may require interdisciplinary collaborative efforts.  So, the first sense of nursing ethics answers the question, “For what ‘goods’ are we responsible as a profession and as individual professionals?” the second is, “How do we practice ethically even when obstacles are present?”

Nursing ethics as inquiry (first sense), gives rise to the profession’s codes of ethics, that serve as ‘promises’ about our responsibilities to the public. They are general normative guidelines in the sense that we strive to enact them and are accountable to them. One of the hallmarks of critical human service professions like nursing is that there is an implicit or explicit code of ethics/standards of practice that essentially says we have our own judgments, are responsible for enacting them, and accountable for the consequences.

In summary, applied ethics is derived from moral theory, professional ethics is an applied ethics, and nursing ethics is an ethics of the nursing profession. Other professions such as medicine, engineering, and architecture have their discipline-specific ethics. Bioethics is both a philosophical and an applied ethics when enacted in clinical settings, but it is not yet, a professional ethics. 

1. American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). The essentials: Core competencies for professional nursing practice 2026. Washington, DC, AACN. Accessible online at https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/0/PDFs/Publications/Essentials-2026.pdf
2. Carol Taylor, Pamela J. Grace and Sarah Vitone. Ethics concept across multiple program types and domains(Washington, DC: American Association of Colleges of Nursing). https://www.aacnnursing.org/cvweb/cgi-bin/msascartdll.dll/ProductInfo?wrp=ToolkitInfo.htm&TaxonomyTagsContent=ToolkitTags.htm&PRODUCTCD=c_eth_wg_xls
3. Archie J. Bahm. Why be moral, 2nd ed. (Albuquerque, NM World Books, 1992)