Meaning of Ethics, Morals and Law
Three words people use as if they meant the same thing. They don't, and a nurse needs to know the difference.
It is 2 a.m. on a busy medical ward in Kaduna. A patient's relative presses a folded ₦5,000 note into a student nurse's hand: "Please, just make sure my father is checked first in the morning." The ward is quiet, no senior nurse is watching, and the money would pay for a week of transport.
What should she do — and why? Is it a question of her conscience, of the rules of her profession, or of the law of Nigeria? The answer is "all three", and learning to tell them apart is where this course begins.
Morals
Long before you ever wore a uniform, your family, faith and community taught you right from wrong: respect elders, don't steal, keep your word. These are your morals. Morals are personal standards of right and wrong conduct, learned from family, culture and religion, that guide an individual's behaviour.
Morals are deeply felt but they vary. A Christian in Enugu, a Muslim in Sokoto and a traditionalist in Osogbo may agree on most things and still disagree about some. Morals answer the question "what do I believe is right?"
Ethics
The word ethics comes from the Greek ethos, meaning character or custom. Ethics is the branch of philosophy that systematically studies what is right and wrong, good and bad, in human conduct, and the reasons that justify those judgements.
Where morals are personal, ethics is reasoned and shared. Nursing ethics applies that reasoning to nursing: the moral principles, values and duties that guide nurses in their professional conduct towards patients, colleagues, the profession and society. It is written down in codes of ethics (Unit 3), so every nurse in the country is held to the same standard whatever her private beliefs.
Law
Law is a body of rules of conduct made or recognised by the state, binding on everyone within its jurisdiction and enforced by the courts and other public authorities through sanctions. The difference that matters most is enforcement: break an ethical rule and your conscience or your professional body may judge you; break the law and the state can fine you, imprison you or order you to pay damages.
Jurisprudence is the study and theory of law. In a nursing course, "nursing jurisprudence" simply means the body of law that governs nursing practice and the nurse's legal rights and responsibilities.
| Point | Morals | Ethics | Law |
|---|---|---|---|
| Source | Family, religion, culture | Philosophy, professional bodies, codes | Constitution, legislature, courts |
| Scope | One person or community | A profession or group | Everyone in the country |
| Form | Unwritten, felt | Written codes and principles | Written statutes and case law |
| Enforcement | Conscience, guilt | Professional discipline | Courts: fines, damages, prison |
| Example | "Stealing is a sin" | "Keep patient information confidential" | National Health Act 2014, s.26: patient information is confidential |
Pause & think
Can something be legal but unethical? Can something be ethical but illegal?
Spotted a mistake?