The Routledge Handbook of Nursing Ethics provides a comprehensive overview of nursing ethics. The book analyses and critiques the field as it evolves in response to local and global challenges, from social inequalities through pandemics and demographic changes to issues relating to workforce development.
The book opens with a theme discussing historical and theoretical developments in nursing ethics, including chapters on Western, Indigenous, and cross-cultural perspectives. The book's second section explores the dominant philosophical and empirical approaches to researching nursing ethics in the 21st century. The third theme analyses some of the ethical problems encountered by nurses in contemporary practice, including moral distress, moral injury, compassion fatigue and ethical dilemmas. The fourth theme draws on contemporary discussions regarding clinical ethics, ethics education and the contributions of nurses in responding to ethical challenges in care, and reviews the meaning and implications of terms such as 'ethics support', 'ethical competence', and 'ethical resilience'. The fifth theme investigates ethical issues arising in diverse care contexts, including care in the community, in residential care, in hospitals and hospices. The sixth theme considers ethical aspects of nurses' roles in caring for individuals across the lifespan and key issues that arise, from neonatal care to end of life. The final substantive theme addresses policy, politics and advocacy in nursing ethics, discussing nurses' engagement with relational, organizational, political and technological challenges. A final chapter reflects on the future opportunities and challenges in the field of nursing ethics.
This comprehensive volume is an essential reference for scholars, students and practitioners from a range of disciplinary and professional backgrounds with an interest in ethics and healthcare.