Balancing Beneficence and Nonmaleficence

Beneficence is the principle of doing good, demonstrating kindness, showing compassion and helping others. In other words beneficence requires one to do good. For example resuscitating a person who is drowning,  encouraging a person to quit smoking.

Nonmaleficence is the principle of not doing harm, it is not concerned with improving life, but it is centered on the idea that by not inflicting harm on others, and as a result improving the lives of others. For example stopping a medicine that is showing harm to the patient, or even not telling the truth to a patient for fear of causing emotional pain. 

There are times when the balancing of the two are essential to Health Care Ethics. For example, one might not want to tell a patient about a condition because it would cause emotional pain, but by telling the person the person will be aware of the situation and seek help. Or one might want to help a person by prescribing a medication that has severe side effects, but if we measure the benefits we might find that treatment is harming the patient more than the disease. 

Neither option is universal by itself, and a balance of the two should be tried to reach in complete harmony. While neither of them is perfect; with good judgement and understanding of the two the health care provider can provide the best health care as possible. The most important factor is that we cannot rely on paternalistic views when making our decisions, we value self-determination and that should be accounted when making the decision. And because of Self-Determination, informed consent is completely essential. With it, and with the consensus of the patient, a health care worker can make the best decision in the care of said patient.