Which patient should be resuscitated first?

Abstract

The core principles of deontology are justice and beneficence. The principle of justice and egalitarianism guide health care professionals to treat every client with fairness and equity regardless the prognosis of illness, social and economic status of clients, the social and financial consequences impose on others. Whereas, the principle of beneficence and utilitarianism direct health care professionals to make an ethical decision to provide the maximum benefit and to minimise harm to the greatest number of people involved. When distributing limited health care resources, there could be conflicts between the principle of justice and beneficence or between egalitarians and utilitarians. At times health care professionals have to make a painful decision which only complies with certain ethical principles, but does not adhere to others.

Equality as a central concept of nursing ethics: a systematic literature review

“…The aspects of distributive equality consist of equal opportunities, circumstances and results. The concept of equal opportunities refers to equal availability of health services, equal treatment and equal opportunities to access health services regardless of individual differences (19,27,35,39,45,46). Equal opportunities create an equal starting point, after which the success of each individual depends on their individual skills and how they are used (47).…”

“…The concept of equality is used in nursing ethics research (17–19, 19–21, 21–34). The concept has also been discussed in connection with the concepts of equity (18, 20), egalitarianism (35) and inequality (36–38). Despite the limited nature of discussion on this topic, the interpretation and rhetorics of the concept are significantly unanimous (19).…”

“…Equality of being aims to guarantee moral basic rights to equal treatment for nurses and patients alike (35, 42, 43). Although equality of being also forms the basis for individual nursing (20, 41), it entails serious problems: it is difficult to define a single human property that is universally applicable to all people (34, 44).…”