Ethical decision making for high-risk infants. The parents' perspective.

The experiences of 32 families with high-risk infants provide the foundation for a discussion of the parents' perception of the ethical dimension of intensive newborn care. The families' focus on the need for support in the NICU crisis rather than a plea for rights, justice, and autonomous decision making leads to a suggested professional response guided by an ethic of care. Through a caring professional, ethical decision making in the NICU can be implemented to encompass a shared moral responsibility for the high-risk infant during this process.