Nursing's duty of care: From legal obligation to moral commitment

• Published in: Nursing praxis in New Zealand inc. Vol. 33; no. 3; pp. 7 - 20
• Main Authors: Water, Tineke, Rasmussen, Shayne, Neufeld, Michael, Gerrard, Debra, d, Katrina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Palmerston North Nursing Praxis New Zealand 01.11.2017
• Subjects: Accountability; Advocacy; Duty of care; Medical ethics; Nurse patient relationships; Nursing; Professional practice; New Zealand; Australia
• ISSN: 0112-7438; 2423-012X

Duty of care is a legal, ethical and professional obligation and commitment for nurses to provide quality care and protect patient safety. Although 'giving care' and 'to care' has been discussed widely in nursing literature, less attention has been given to 'duty of care' as a fundamental basis for practice. This narrative review, through a critical analysis of peer reviewed literature, legislation, codes, professional prescribed competencies and cases upheld by commissions and courts of law, explores the historical origins and development of 'duty of care', alongside nurse's legal, ethical and professional parameters associated with duty to care. Major concepts identified include legal and common law definitions of a duty of care which are relevant to nursing, medicine and midwifery; duty of care as an evolving principle; duty of care that goes beyond legal definitions to include a moral commitment to care; and the relevance of duty of care to nursing practice in New Zealand. This paper concludes that although the origins of a duty to care may have begun in servitude, current expectations of a duty to care are based on outcomes - that of do good and do no harm. Nursing's duty of care is regulated by legal, ethical and professional obligations but equally includes a moral commitment to care. These findings suggest duty to care lies at the heart of nursing practice.