VI Glossary

Advocacy: The act or process of pleading for, supporting, or recommending a cause or course of action. Advocacy may be for persons (whether an individual, group, population, or society) or for an issue, such as potable water or global health.^[1]

Autonomy: The capacity to determine one’s own actions through independent choice, including demonstration of competence.^[2]

Beneficence: The bioethical principle of benefiting others by preventing harm, removing harmful conditions, or affirmatively acting to benefit another or others, often going beyond what is required by law.^[3]

Code of ethics: A set of ethical principles established by a profession that is designed to govern decision-making and assist individuals to distinguish right from wrong.

Consequentialism: An ethical theory used to determine whether or not an action is right by the consequences of the action. For example, most people agree that lying is wrong, but if telling a lie would help save a person’s life, consequentialism says it’s the right thing to do.

Cultural humility: A humble and respectful attitude towards individuals of other cultures and an approach to learning about other cultures as a lifelong goal and process.

Deontology: An ethical theory based on rules that distinguish right from wrong.

Ethical dilemma: Conflict resulting from competing values that requires a decision to be made from equally desirable or undesirable options.

Ethical principles: Principles used to define nurses’ moral duties and aid in ethical analysis and decision-making.^[4] Foundational ethical principles include autonomy (self-determination), beneficence (do good), nonmaleficence (do no harm), justice (fairness), and veracity (tell the truth).

Ethics: The formal study of morality from a wide range of perspectives.^[5]

Ethics committee: A formal committee established by a health care organization to problem-solve ethical dilemmas.

Fidelity: An ethical principle meaning keeping promises.

Institutional Review Board (IRB): A group that has been formally designated to review and monitor biomedical research involving human subjects.

Justice: A moral obligation to act on the basis of equality and equity and a standard linked to fairness for all in society.^[6]

Moral conflict: Feelings occurring when an individual is uncertain about what values or principles should be applied to an ethical issue.^[7]

Moral courage: The willingness of an individual to speak out and do what is right in the face of forces that would lead us to act in some other way.^[8]

Moral distress: Feelings occurring when correct ethical action is identified but the individual feels constrained by competing values of an organization or other individuals.^[9]

Moral injury: The distressing psychological, behavioral, social, and sometimes spiritual aftermath of exposure to events that contradict deeply held moral beliefs and expectations.

Morality: Personal values, character, or conduct of individuals or groups within communities and societies.^[10]

Moral outrage: Feelings occurring when an individual witnesses immoral acts or practices they feel powerless to change.^[11]

Morals: The prevailing standards of behavior of a society that enable people to live cooperatively in groups.^[12]

Nonmaleficence: The bioethical principle that specifies a duty to do no harm and balances avoidable harm with benefits of good achieved.^[13]

Paternalism: The interference by the state or an individual with another person, defended by the claim that the person interfered with will be better off or protected from harm.^[14]

Utilitarianism: A type of consequentialism that determines whether or not actions are right based on their consequences, with the standard being achieving the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

Values: Individual beliefs that motivate people to act one way or another and serve as a guide for behavior.^[15]

Veracity: An ethical principle meaning telling the truth.