AN OCCUPATIONAL TRANSMISSION OF HIV - COLLISION OF ETHICAL WORLDS IN NURSING PRACTICE

This article proposes a new theoretical frame for ethical practice in nursing by locating ethical questions within the worlds of everyday nu rsing experience. The authors advocate a process of ethical thought an d action that is not so much a weighing of dichotomized alternatives a s a continual journey in which nurses delve deeper into their examinat ion of clinical contexts, structural contingencies, and the meanings o f experience for themselves and their clients. This theoretical vision is illustrated with a case study about a nurse who was infected with HIV on the job. The purposes in presenting the case study are to give testament to this brave woman's story, illustrate the dynamics of a co ntextualized ethics, and challenge nurses to make changes in practice, policy, and structure to foster truly ethical work and relations with others.