Which principle requires health-care providers to do no harm to clients?

Which principle requires health-care providers to do no harm to clients?

• A. Beneficence
• B. Nonmaleficence
• C. Justice
• D. Veracity

Answer: (B)

Nonmaleficence means health-care providers must do no harm to patients. This principle requires that actions or inactions do not expose patients to unnecessary risk or injury, and that potential harms are weighed against any anticipated benefits. In practice, it leads clinicians to choose safer options when possible, minimize unnecessary procedures, monitor for adverse effects, and stop or adjust treatments when the harm outweighs the benefit. It sits alongside beneficence, which is about actively promoting good, while justice concerns fairness and resource distribution, and veracity focuses on honesty with patients. When a treatment could cause significant harm with little or uncertain benefit, nonmaleficence guides us to refrain from that intervention, reinforcing the core obligation to protect patients from harm.

Nonmaleficence means health-care providers must do no harm to patients. This principle requires that actions or inactions do not expose patients to unnecessary risk or injury, and that potential harms are weighed against any anticipated benefits. In practice, it leads clinicians to choose safer options when possible, minimize unnecessary procedures, monitor for adverse effects, and stop or adjust treatments when the harm outweighs the benefit. It sits alongside beneficence, which is about actively promoting good, while justice concerns fairness and resource distribution, and veracity focuses on honesty with patients. When a treatment could cause significant harm with little or uncertain benefit, nonmaleficence guides us to refrain from that intervention, reinforcing the core obligation to protect patients from harm.