Ethical dilemmas faced by mental health nurses.

This paper considers the dilemmas faced by mental health nurses when they encounter difficult ethical decisions. Using a case study, the author analyses the patient's right to autonomy and the nurse's duty of care. Theories of decision-making are assessed for their relevance to the work of mental health nurses. The author proposes that Hare's (1981) theory of universal prescriptivism offers an appropriate framework and examples from clinical practice are described to support this argument.