Core Ethical principles
Core Ethical principles
Core ethical principles were included into the Belmont Report, now known as the Common Rule, that governs the
ethical guidelines for research that utilizes human participation (National Commission for the Protection of Human
Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, 1979). Beauchamp and Childress (2013) have expounded on this
report as the principles relate to nursing practice:
• Autonomy- this principle holds that each person has worth in their own right, each person should have the
unrestricted freedom to make choices for themselves; this principle is at the core of the informed consent
procedure.
• Non-maleficence- requires the avoidance of harm. Patients have the right to expect that the health care
provided to them won’t do them further harm. An easy clinical situation to apply this principle to is hand
washing. Again, every healthcare professional knows hand washing is the most effective way to limit the
spread of hospital-acquired infections. Does everyone who comes into contact with the patients in your
facility comply with the hand washing policy every time? Do you?
• Beneficence- this principle holds that each action undertaken should be done for the benefit of others. It is
often times linked with non-maleficence. A classic example of this type of ethical decision would be to
consider the process of allowing a natural death to occur versus the act of euthanasia.
• Justice- this principle states that all care should be distributed in an equitable and fair manner. Any care that
violates this principle (think lack of access to specialty care in rural or underserved populations) can be a
potential ethical issue for the APN to address in some way
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