Several ethical principles that are incorporated into nursing care of patients on a daily basis are non-malice, autonomy, beneficence, justice, faithfulness, and paternalism. Nurses should strive to comply with as many of the principles as possible. In this case there are principles that support and conflict with the patient's wishes. The first principle that supports the patient's will is autonomy. Autonomy means that competent patients have the right to make decisions for themselves and for the provision of the healthcare they receive. Another factor that would support the patient's desire not to be resuscitated is non-maleficence. Nonmaleficence means that nurses should not cause harm or injury to their patients. In this case the probability of injury after resuscitation was greater than when the patient was allowed to expire. One principle that could have negatively affected the outcome of providing ethical care was paternalism. Paternalism is when a healthcare provider believes they know what is best for a patient, regardless of the patient's desire for their care. I demonstrated the principle of paternalism because I thought I knew what was best for the patient without first consulting the patient or family. This situation could have had very negative consequences if the patient had not been competent. Practicing a paternalistic mindset could have led a practitioner in the same case to impose his or her ideas about not resuscitating their loved one on the family. This may have caused a sense of remorse and loss of control over care among participants