Ethical reflection in an organisational and technological world.

The concept of the nurse-patient relationship has received extensive analysis in recent years (Armstrong 1983, Liaschenko 1995). In recognising the moral complexity of every nurse-patient interaction (Wurzbach 1999), there is, however, a hint here that the whole nursing enterprise, involving as it does carer and cared-for, extends beyond considerations of knowledge (skills) and technical application. Instead, the moral perspective of nursing needs to consider carefully the dynamics of a continuum involving the contribution of means (nursing) towards a moral end (patient welfare).