Ethical health care policy: nursing's voice in allocation.

Nurse administrators must become more involved in the policy debates concerning universal access to care and allocation of health care resources. In order to promote nursing's agenda in the policy debates, nurses must be familiar with the numerous ethical issues that impact macroallocation decisions. This article explores the ethical viewpoint of the nursing profession as it relates to allocation decisions and examines how the ethical principles of the nursing profession, along with the ethical theories of egalitarianism and utilitarianism, can be used throughout the policy process to guide the development of a plan for universal access to care.