development of what I have termed professional phronesis, that is the development of a
practical wisdom that is specifically geared towards guiding action in nursing practice.
Inherent in these virtues of nursing is a requirement for a general disposition of good
will towards particular others; those, that is, who are more-than-ordinarily vulnerable.
This must be good will in a strong rather than a weak sense. The nurse with good will in
a weak sense may well be inclined to want to be of benefit to patients but will be
insufficiently motivated to undertake those actions necessary to ensure safe and
competent care. The nurse with good will in this weak sense is unlikely to develop the
critical attributes necessary to distinguish between valid and suspect evidence as a basis
for practice; may not even be bothered to search out information but instead may merely
rely on the unsubstantiated claims of those perceived as being in positions of authority
(this seems likely given the enduring hierarchical power structures common in health
care environments). In contrast, the nurse with good will in the strong sense is not only
committed to doing the right thing but is also committed to taking whatever steps are
necessary in aiming to provide safe and competent care. The nurse with good will in
this strong sense will recognise the danger of, and take steps to avoid becoming, the
well meaning but incompetent nurse. Good will in the weak sense cannot provide
sufficient guide for professional action because too much will be left to chance or to the
vagaries of individual whim and uninformed action. Rather, as indicated in the
discussion of trust in Chapter 4, good will requires a genuine regard for the welfare of
others and a conscious self-awareness of one’s competence to act in ways that are
consistent with the flourishing of those with whose care one is charged. As such, a good
will (in the strong sense) enables a nurse to recognise the limitations of her or his skills
and abilities. This self-awareness is an essential feature of nursing if a nurse is to be
able to know what further knowledge and skills she or he must develop in order to
provide safe and competent, as well as professional and moral care. This becomes part
of a cycle of the development of professional phronesis for practical wisdom comes
with recognising deficiencies Ofknowledge and skills and it is this same practical
wisdom that helps a nurse to recognise her or his deficiencies.
The nature of moral education
Writing in 1967, Wilson et al. noted that ‘“Moral education’ ... is as yet a name for
nothing clear...” (Wilson et al. 1967 p. 32). Judging from the continuing debates in the
literature it is not at all obvious that the nature of moral education is very much clearer
now than it was then. However, the argument that Wilson et al. emphasise against a
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