Ethical decision making for nurse administrators.

The authors' purpose is to offer a theoretical perspective to help the nurse administrator make ethical decisions congruent with social policies in allocating scarce resources. The goal is approached in two ways: by exploring the philosophical principle of morality on which decisions to distribute scarce resources can be made and by clarifying the principles of justice and distributive justice in two classic moral theories. Principles of distributive justice that serve as guidelines for social justice policy are delineated. A case study illustrates the dilemma.