Which issue is described as a moral conflict in nursing involving balancing duties to help patients with respecting their autonomy?

• A. Beneficence versus patient autonomy
• B. Patient-provider confidentiality
• C. Truth-telling
• D. Informed consent

Answer: (A)

At the heart of this item is the tension between doing good for patients and respecting their personal decision-making rights. Beneficence means acting to promote the patient’s well-being and prevent harm, while patient autonomy means recognizing their right to make their own health care choices, even if those choices conflict with what the clinician believes is best. In nursing, you often face situations where you want to provide the most beneficial treatment, but you must honor the patient’s informed preferences, which may include accepting a different plan or even declining treatment. That push-and-pull between helping the patient and respecting their autonomous choices is the classic moral conflict described here.

Confidentiality centers on protecting private information; truth-telling concerns honesty in disclosure; informed consent relates to ensuring a patient understands options and consents voluntarily. While related to ethics in care, the described struggle is most directly about beneficence versus autonomy.