The aim of this book is to show how feminist perspectives can extend and advance the field of
nursing ethics. It engages in the broader nursing ethics project of critiquing existing ethical
frameworks as well as constructing and developing alternative understandings concepts and
methodologies. All of the contributors draw attention to the operations of power inherent in
moral relationships at individual institutional cultural and socio-political levels. The
early essays chart the development of feminist perspectives in the field of nursing ethics from
the late 19th century to the present day and consider the impact of gender roles and gendered
understandings on the moral lives of nurses patients and families. They also consider the
transformative potential of feminist perspectives to widen the scope of nursing and midwifery
practices to include the social economic cultural and political dimensions of moral
decision-making in health care settings. The second half of the book draws on feminist insights
to critically discuss the role of nurses and midwives in leadership healthcare organisations
and research as well as the provision of particular forms of care e.g. care in the home and
abortion care.
