Nurses are challenged to thoughtfully analyze the balance of responsibility and risk in particular situations in order to preserve the ethical mandates of the profession. This central axiom of respect for persons directs the profession.
Nursing creates a special relationship between nurse and client, with special duties for the nurse.
The nurse is not at liberty to abandon those in need of nursing care. According to the Code for Nurses, nurses may morally refuse to participate in care, but only on the grounds of either client advocacy or moral objection to a specific type of intervention. In those situations, the nurse is obligated to provide for the client's safety and assure that alternate sources of nursing care are available. Nursing is resolute in its position that care should be delivered without prejudice, and it makes no allowance for use of the client's personal attributes, socioeconomic or health status as grounds for discrimination. For assistance in resolving the question of risk versus responsibility, nurses must turn to the field of ethics for guidance.