ABSTRACT
It is often argued that people have responsibilities over their health, including promoting self-health, providing healthcare workers with appropriate information, and adhering to agreed treatment plans. However, if there is such a responsibility, what are the grounds for it? How should its scope be determined? To whom does such a responsibility exist? In case of failure to fulfil that responsibility, what kind of sanctions could be implemented? Undoubtedly, the guiding values for justifiable answers to those questions are human rights, the right to health, patient rights, and professional moral values. Yet, we cannot easily reach a consensus because of the moral tension deriving from various conflicting values. Such tensions, which can be encountered almost every day, may become more pronounced and negatively affect service delivery, especially in extraordinary situations such as pandemics. Indeed, many studies are showing that nurses may think that the diseases of the patients are the result of their fault and may have negative attitudes towards them accordingly. In this chapter, M. Murat Civaner explores these and other questions by analysing the premises behind the personal responsibility discourse.
