Inr. .I ,Vur\ Srud.. kol 22, No. 4, pp. 341-345.

1985
Pergomon Presc Ltd. Printed in Great Brirain

Book Reviews

NURSING ETHICS: RECENT RESOURCES

A number of books presenting contemporary views on nursing ethics have appeared in

the past few years. The field of nursing ethics applies ethical theories and principles to
role relationships in nursing and clinical decision-making within those relationships. Five
books will be reviewed identifying their basic content, unique features, and the audience
recommendations of the reviewer. All of the books are based primarily on nursing as it
is practiced in the United States, which may present difficulties for an international
readership. Curtin and Flaherty’s book does include consideration of nursing in Canada,
which gives it a broader scope. This reviewer looks forward to the development of nursing
ethics from a variety of societal and cultural views so that we may begin to identify universal
characteristics of nursing ethics.

Ethics in Nursing. Martin Benjamin and Joy Curtis. Oxford University Press, New York
(1981).

Content
The book includes discussion of ethical dilemmas and the use of ethical theories and
principles to resolve them; and the ethical aspects of role relationships between nurses and
clients, nurses, physicians, institutions and society. Case studies introduce typical dilemmas
in these role relationships and ethical reasoning is applied to their resolution. The appendix
includes Codes, additional case studies without study questions or discussion, and a
bibliography for further reading.

Unique features
The presentation of ethical theories and principles is particularly clear and there is a short
section on the possible conflicts between ethics, law and religion that may arise. The
discussion of this potential conflict is particularly necessary since ethics in Western pluralistic
societies is often based in secular philosophy which has historical and practical connections
with law and religion but may nevertheless be in conflict with one or both at times.

Recommendations
The clarity and focused scope of this book make it particularly good for students of nursing
and experienced nurses with little background in formal ethics who will be reading it on
their own without the benefit of a class or seminar. It is a good beginning text to prepare
them for more in-depth discussions in other sources.