Nonmaleficence in nursing ethics means what?

• A. Avoiding harm
• B. Doing good
• C. Fairness
• D. Honesty

Answer: (A)

Nonmaleficence is about avoiding harm to patients. In nursing, this means carefully considering whether a intervention or action could injure someone and taking steps to prevent that harm. It embodies the idea of “first, do no harm” in everyday practice: choosing safer treatments, monitoring for adverse effects, preventing injuries, and stopping care that would do more harm than good. This principle guides nurses to minimize risks while still providing needed care, and it often works alongside beneficence, which focuses on doing good.

To illustrate, avoiding giving a medication a patient is known to react badly to, using sterile technique to prevent infection, and promptly addressing a near-miss or error to prevent harm are all actions rooted in nonmaleficence.

The other options reflect different ethical obligations: doing good aligns with beneficence, fairness with justice, and honesty with veracity. Each is important, but they describe distinct duties from the duty to avoid harm.