Ethics Proverbs Analysis

1. Keli Wilkie
October 13, 2015
Proverbs Virtues Analysis
1. Courage
Proverbs 28:1- “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.”
Courage is the resolve to act virtuously or helpfully, especially when it is most difficult or
stressful. Courage is something that people try to have and believe they have even when they do
not. Only in a time of difficulty and hardships can one find their inner courage and rise to the
situation at hand. Every person will go through a difficult time in which they can discover their
inner courage. In my case, I have a brother whom has many different medical conditions that
makes life difficult for him and my family. In many instances I have had to make decisions about
his care that could have either hurt or helped him but in the situation there was not time to ask for
help and I had to find the courage to make these decisions in the difficult time. Nursing requires
an extreme amount of courage, for instance in situations that we must make decisions that can
effect someone else’s life and possible cause death. Nurses must find courage in situations such
as codes, talking with patients about bad news or diagnoses, or even admitting to a mistake that
they might have made. Courage comes in many different forms such as love, honesty and
commitment and without courage life would be dull.
2. Service
Proverbs 31:20- “She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.” The virtue
in this passage is service. Service is giving to others, making a difference in their lives,
considering their needs as importance as your own and being helpful without waiting to be
asked. In my life I try to use this virtue to ensure that I am not Only serving God, but also doing

2. the right thing to do and helping others with no expectation of getting anything out of it in return.
To me it is important to help people in anyway I possibly can, whether it is little things such as
donating to charities or big things such as bringing people who need help into your life and
house. Service is just as important in nursing because patients need us to care for them and
advocate for them with nothing in return. Nursing requires service in every thing we do to better
the patients’ care and outcome.
3. Forgiveness/Love
Proverbs 10:12- “Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.” Forgiveness is giving
someone another chance when they have done something wrong and being able to act in such a
way that does not involve revenge or hatred. Forgiveness is high on my list of virtues I try to
have to help better my life by allowing myself to forgive people who have done me wrong to
make it possible for me to move on with my life. People have natural instincts and some cause
them to do bad things that can hurt people, but without forgiveness this world would be a sad
place and there is a chance people, including myself, would go through life without anyone by
our sides. Every person in my life has done something at one point that needed forgiveness from
me, whether being a white lie or complete betrayal, however with forgiveness these people that
mean the world to me can still be apart of my life without a feeling of distrust. Nursing requires
forgiveness on many different terms such as dealing with patients, coworkers, families and
doctors. Patients and families can go behind our backs or not take our advice and end up in a
worse situation then they previously were in because of simply not following our advice.
However, this can not change our care for them and we need to have forgiveness towards them in
order to ensure our care is the best we can give. Also, when dealing with doctors or coworkers
that can do something you disagree with or even put you in a difficult situation it is important to

3. have forgiveness towards them because it is a team effort that heals patients and without a strong
and reliable team, healing is not possible.
4. Love
Proverbs 15:17- “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred
therewith.” Love is treating people and things with care and kindness because they mean a great
amount to you and showing a genuine concern for the good of others, with unselfish acts of
kindness such as: compassion, caring, thoughtfulness, service, and other humanitarian and noble
actions. Love is something that makes life a little sweeter and helps get through life and difficult
situations. I have been taught from a young age to love with all my heart and to ensure that the
ones I love are taken care of and not in need of necessities. It is a passion of mine to help people
through their difficult times and to build a connection with those whom come into my life that
allows me to develop a love and concern for them. Love is the stepping stone between other
virtues such as compassion and forgiveness. Nursing requires love in a different way such as
loving to care for people that we may have never met before. Love is easy when you know the
person, but being able to develop a love for someone’s care and healing process when you do not
know them for more than a few hours requires large hearts and special people. Those people
become nurses and by using their love for healing and medicine they come alongside patients
and assist them through the difficult times in their lives.
5. Humility
Proverbs 20:9- “Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?” In this verse
humility is describe. Therefore, it explains that no person, including one’s self, is perfect or
without mistakes. Not one person is free of sin or wrongfulness. Although difficult, I live my life
trying my best to ensure that I never look down upon people especially for decisions or actions

4. they may do in their life because I step back and look at myself and even though I am a follower
of Christ and I am becoming a nurse to save lives, I know that I am not better than them and that
I myself have sinned just like they have. It is important to ensure that we keep ourselves check
into reality and that we never forget people make mistakes, although some can be worse than
others, it is not our place to judge them and their mistakes; just as we would not want someone to
judge our mistakes. Patients can make nurses and other healthcare staff forget about humility
sometimes due to the situations they are in or the choices they have made in their life that the
staff may believe is worse than worse, however it is important that we understand that we are
there to heal them, not judge them. Coworkers can cause stress in the work place and can cause
tension between people based on decisions they make and situations they get themselves and
other coworkers into, however without humility it makes it difficult to come alongside them to
ensure that the most positive outcome for the situation can arise.
6. Truthfulness/Honesty
Proverbs 8:7- “For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.”
Truthfulness is being honest in one’s words and actions and having a strict adherence to a policy
of honesty and openness. Honesty is the best policy, and that is what we are taught from a dry
young age. Without honesty your word holds no credibility and no one can believe anything you
say. I never want to be known as a liar and therefore it is important for me to deliver the truth
even in the instance that it may hurt someone’s feelings or if it is not what they want to hear. Life
can be harsh and without honesty it is impossible to have trust for any other human being.
Dishonesty can destroy someone’s reputation for the rest of their life. Healthcare requires
complete truth and honesty about the patients’ care. If nurses or other staff members lie,
including leaving out information, it can discredit everything else they tell the patient and can

5. make the patient choose a decision that they would not normally choose because they do not trust
the nurse and therefore do not want to do anything they recommend. Patients need to be able to
have trust in their nurses to ensure great care and on the other hand nurses need to be able to trust
the patients and that the patients will follow the discharge instructions and medication
administration taught to them to ensure safety and full healing for the patient.