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Should nurses act legally or ethically?
Helen Newnham
School of Nursing, Edith Cowan University, WA
Abstract
Should health professionals act legally or ethically in the delivery of health care presuming it is impossible to do both? There is a tendency by some to take the position that to act ethically is more important in the provision of health care and to ignore or at least minimise any legal consequences that may arise. At the same time the law may ignore ethical principles claiming the legal position is more important. This article argues that while law and ethics are both important in the delivery of health care the law as the final arbitrator takes precedence.
Keywords
law, ethics, euthanasia, confidentiality, professional codes of ethics
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