ABSTRACT
Helga Kuhse has argued that, taken by itself, caring is inadequate as a guide to ethical decision making in nursing. Virtue ethics claims that, if an agent acts from virtue, this will be sufficient to make the action good. Acting from virtue is not only necessary but also sufficient for the goodness of the action. The field of the virtue of caring in the context of health care is obviously health care itself. The range of matters and sorts of things the virtue concerns itself with will be connected to health care. The target of the virtue of caring in health care, or what virtuous actions of this kind seek to achieve in the field of health, is the enhancement or preservation of the health of individuals, families or communities. The ethical self-understanding of the profession may be expressed in particular principles such as those of respect for autonomy, beneficence, non-malevolence, and justice.
