Principle-oriented ethics and the ethic of care: a creative tension.

Research to date in the field of nursing ethics has overlooked the nature of the guiding moral framework in nursing practice, while focusing primarily on the moral reasoning and moral behaviors among nurses. This research depicts two moral frameworks--a principle-oriented ethic and the ethic of care--as they are experienced by practicing critical care nurses. The interdependence of these two frameworks as they inform the moral experience of the nurse is demonstrated in the analysis of a complex nurse narrative that depicts the nurse's moral struggle.