Example Of Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism states we should always act in a way that will promote the greatest balance of pleasure for the greatest number of people and least amount of pain, for all sentient beings, based on our actions. However, the consequences of our actions are very important and matter as well. The utilitarian believes that the consequence is ALL that matters as long as it promotes the most overall happiness, therefore, we must consider the action based on weighing the consequence it will bring in the end.
One example I can think of in my line of work is saving the life of a criminal in the trauma room. This person has just committed a crime of murdering an innocent family and in the process has been shot. It is our duty as the medical staff to

do everything we can to save his life. By not doing everything we can to save the patient and allowing him to die, this would bring the most overall happiness to the relatives of the murdered family, friends of the family, and the general public while taking a murderer off the streets. Sometimes it’s hard to look past someone who has committed such a hideous crime to an innocent family that we only want to consider the best outcome to promote the greatest pleasure and least amount of pain. As a nurse, we pledged the Nightingale Pledge, to practice our profession faithfully, do all in our power to maintain the standard of our profession, and remain loyal to devoting ourselves to the welfare of those in our care. The consequences of the above action would result in breaking our oath and the reason we decided to become healthcare professionals. It is not up to us to determine whether the patient lives or dies, only that we have done what we can to uphold our commitment of service. For this reason, I believe that the consequences theory is flawed.