The "four principles provide a simple, accessible, and
culturally neutral approach to thinking
about ethical issues in health care. The approach, developed in the
United States, is based on four common, basic prima facie moral
commitments - respect for autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and
justice - plus concern for their scope of application. It offers a
common, basic moral analytical framework and a common, basic moral
language. Although they do not provide ordered rules, these principles
can help doctors and other health care workers to make decisions when
reflecting on moral issues that arise at work.