在現今的醫療照護體系，主要注重病人整體性的照顧，護理人員與病人之間應維持良好關係及關心病人的自主性，讓病人有權利來參與自己的健康決策。雖然有關護理倫理的文獻大多強調病人「自主」的重要性，但國內尚未對「自主」做有系統的概念分析。因此本文先廣泛的瞭解「自主」的用法，字典與文獻對「自主」的定義，並釐清「自主」概念的定義及鑑定性特徵且舉例說明，和列舉實證性的參考資料，以提供將來對於「自主」概念的應用及測量工具的發展。

　　　　　Holistic care is the primary focus of today掇 health care system. Nurses are encouraged to maintain good relationships with their patients and to be sensitive to patient autonomy. Furthermore, patients are increasingly demanding and enjoying the right to join in decision-making processes concerning their treatment plans. The importance of patient autonomy is emphasized in the nursing literature on ethics, but no articles focus on the specific situation in Taiwan. The authors review definitions of and concepts tied to autonomy in the literature, redefine the concept to incorporate additional attributes, and construct example cases. Finally, they list empirical references on the application of the concept and the development of appropriate measures.