The ethics of virtue to achieve excellence in nursing care

On a daily basis, nurses face ethical challenges and moral dilemmas. Their work is identified with the highest moral and social values: human life, the dignity of the person and freedom. All this makes nursing an authentic moral practice. This condition requires that its professionals must develop both technical competence and moral capacity, inspired by the solidarity dimension that appears in the face of human vulnerability. Circumstance that obliges the professional to pursue moral excellence through instruction in the knowledge of laws and moral principles, and to acquire and put into practice the virtues that allow achieving the internal good of the profession. The objective of this study is to identify and describe the virtues that nurses must acquire to carry out their work in an excellent way. Thus, the nurse who acquires the virtues of humility, prudence, trust, fidelity, diligence, truthfulness, discretion, empathy, sensitivity, respect, compassion, altruism and responsibility will be able to achieve excellence in care.