Problem: A husband and wife are both residents of a nursing home. The husband has a heart attack and the wife is brought from another floor. Before she can get to the room the man dies, but to spare the woman pain, the staff allows her to think that he is still alive when she gets to the room. In that she is frail and feeble, with poor eyesight, she does not know that he is dead. The woman is then told that her husband's respiration is growing weaker and that he appeared to have been waiting for her before he died. As she leaves the room, she tells the staff that she is so glad that he waited for her so that she could see him alive one more time.
What are the (2) ethical principles involved in this situation?
Do you agree with the staff's action?
Defend your answer.