The term “nursing ethics” is controversial. Some insist that nursing ethics is a unique field posing issues that cannot be understood fully by adapting the professional ethics of physicians. They insist that the term “nursing ethics” connotes the uniqueness of the moral problems that nurses face in the health care setting.

On the other hand, others argue against the term. Some suggest that it is demeaning and has somewhat the connotation of watered-down ethics —the flavor of such textbook titles as anatomy for nurses or pharmacology for nurses Others critical of the term “nursing ethics” argue that there is really very little that is morally unique to nursing. The same ethical principles and the same moral issues emerge in the health care setting whether one is a physician, nurse or patient. This article puts forth the view that nursing ethics is a legitimate, if very limited, term referring to a field that is a sub-category of medical ethics.