Humanizing technology: the role of ethics, bioethics and the STS approach in the nursing care process

Humankind's capacity to transform the environment has modified everyone's way of life and far surpassed inherited dependencies on nature. Science, linked to knowledge, has led to transformations in its evolution, undergoing a process of differentiation and constituting "that form of technology structurally based on the existence of science." The nursing care process is the application of the scientific method to nursing practice, allowing for the provision of care in a rational, logical, and systematic manner, which is of vital importance when working in the emergency setting. The four bioethical principles defined by Beauchamp and Childress (beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, and justice) provide an analytical framework that allows for the selection, in a specific situation, of the most relevant elements to establish a criterion or resolve a practical difficulty in order to provide quality care and ensure patient safety within the nursing context. The aim of this work is to establish the relationship between ethical and bioethical principles and the Science, Technology, and Society (STS) approach in the nursing care process.