Ethics Personal Statement

My personal ethics have been formed through family influence, religious beliefs, life experiences, my internal reflection and the culture in which I was raised.

The nursing profession has a long history of assessing and placing patient needs first when giving care. The tenets of nursing practice include meeting those needs using individualized care by collaborating with the patient, family, and health care team members. (American Nurses Association, 2010). The concept of transcultural nursing aligns with these tenets because it calls on nurses to provide patient-centered care by taking into account the patient’s background, beliefs, culture and values. In this paper, I will identify the factors that made it necessary to develop the transcultural nursing theory, describe the meaning of diversity and its relationship to the field of nursing, and explain three ways that I provide culturally sensitive care to my patients.

My personal code of ethics is Equality and Sensibility. I believe in a predictable system that assures the well-being of all, especially those without power, is a just system. As a wife, mother, nurse and a member of a community, I strive to do the best I can in every aspect of my life. As a mother, I strive to be a good role model to my children and teach them the fundamentals of life. I strive to be able to give a solid foundation and an easy path to life whether it be school, finding who they want to be as they grow older and for a productive future. As a nurse, I strive for equality of care for every patient and to be able to be their voice when they are not

Cultural competence can be defined as using the ability of one’s awareness, attitude, knowledge and skill to effectively interact with a patient’s many cultural differences. Madeline Leininger, a pioneer on transcultural nursing describes it this way; “a formal area of study and practice focused on comparative human-care differences and similarities of the beliefs, values and patterned lifeways of cultures to provide culturally congruent, meaningful, and beneficial health care to people” (Barker, 2009, p. 498). The importance of cultural diversity in healthcare allows for the delivery of appropriate cultural autonomy. Showing respect for others will lead to trust between nurse and

My love for nursing began early in my life; in high school, my continuing desire to become a nurse resulted in my applying and being accepted to Midwestern State University. There, I received a BSN and became a registered nurse. My experience at Midwestern prepared me for a successful career by instilling confidence within me as I joined the workforce. As my experience grew and years went by, I became eager to further my education and pursue my master's degree. Then life happened: the two-legged version that requires love, compassion, energy, and time. Now that my child is in school, with the support of my family, I am ready and dedicated to become a family nurse practitioner.

With the large increase multicultural population in the United States, nurses encounter patients with differences in healthcare beliefs, values and customs. To provide adequate nursing care, nurses must be aware of these differences. They must respect and acknowledge the patient’s culture. To do this, nurses need education on cultural competence to ensure patient satisfaction and better patient outcomes.

We live in a very diverse nation and overcoming challenges related to cultural beliefs and preferences is a very common obstacle for health care workers today. In an article in The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing cultural diversity is defined as being more than just race,

Culture is a multifaceted characters of a diverse sets of people that have a common ground on values, languages, emotions and identity. It is a symbolic communication perpetuated in a much larger society that influence by means of conditioning and imitation from one generation to the next. Knowledge of cultural diversity is crucial at all levels of nursing practice. It require nurses to be challenge on a multilevel amplitude of social character and commitment. It is empirical that the nurse consider specific cultural factors impacting on each individual patients and be able to recognize its differences. The impact of cultural diversity on each patient start with the nurse as a co-provider and influence on the perceptions, interpretations and behaviors of a particular specific cultural group. Nurses need to understand the validity of how culture minded patients understand life process, health, illness, death, and dying. Through collaboration and scientific evidence of multicultural society can bring about a culturally-relevant and responsive services.

Hart and Mareno (2013) wrote in their article, Cultural challenges, and barriers through the voices of nurses, nurses are being tested in today 's healthcare environment to provide culturally competent care to their patients which consist of a diverse population. Nurses, according to Hart

The concept of diversity is one that individuals may not think of when they think of nursing. Diversity is a major component to nursing and the care that is provided to patients. In this concept analysis, antecedent, attributes and consequences of diversity are identified. The following antecedents are: race, social economy, knowledge, gender, and education level. The attributes of diversity are individual, variety, perception, difference and civilization. The consequences of diversity are as follows; acceptance, decision making, cultural competency qualifications, respect, degrading, trusts

Guido describes ethics as “a process of determining right conduct from wrong” (para 2, p. 3). My personal view of ethics is along the same lines as this and has been instilled in me my entire life. My code of ethics includes respect for myself and others; honesty in my endeavors, graciousness in both my personal and professional lives, and accountable for my actions. I use nonmaleficence and beneficence in every aspect of my life. I also strive to honor the proverbial do unto others as they would do unto me.

Various ethical dilemmas arise in healthcare, and each individual’s personal views affect their behavior and influence their decisions.  Patients with difficult and uncooperative attitudes challenge the nurses ability to maintain appropriate care, however, it is necessary for nurses to maintain a professional and holistic patient/caregiver relationship.  Assessment of the patient’s non-compliance may help the nurse understand the patient’s decisions.  Most importantly, the nurse needs to maintain patience, understanding, and empathy towards their patients, in order to sustain holistic care.  I have made it a point to self-examine myself as well, to maintain awareness of my own personal biases, values, desires and concerns which may influence my interactions with others.  A big struggle for me is caring for patients who bring illness unto themselves, and then refuse the help we offer them.  For example, those who misuse drugs and alcohol, or refuse to take medications that are crucial for the health.  I have to remind myself with these patients, to witness their illness without judgment of blame.  I have to remind myself to set aside all biases so that I am able to effectively care for the patient and their families.  I remind myself to understand that they are suffering human beings, who need my help.  While

Growing up in a religious background, my Catholic beliefs reflect and shape my own personal values. As a Catholic, I was taught to always respect your elders, treat others as how you would like to be treated, never put anyone’s name in vain, distinguish right from wrong, and work for the common good. By these codes of ethics, I have always believed in and live by. My parents played an important role in developing my values of Respect, Integrity, Humility, Trust, Accountability and Responsibility. Through their actions and hardships, they expressed their struggles they faced leaving their country and coming to the United States in order to provide their family with more opportunities and a better life. Both my parents were born in poverty and in a corrupt government. They both have strong religious background, where religion is their force and motivation to never give up and to keep moving forward through the struggles. From their story, it set an example for me on how to live life and that I should never take anything for granted in life. I am grateful from where I come from and who I am. My actions make me who I am and it is important for me to always do the right actions. This applies in both my personal and professional life. The major aspect I learned is that nothing in life is permanent and live life to the fullest. I will never take failure personal and will not let it dictate my life.

In today's world, individuals can make a single decision that can have a profoundly positive or negative effect on their family, their employer, coworkers, a nation, and even on the entire world. The life we lead reflects the strength of a single trait: our personal character. Personal ethics are different for each person but for the most part, people want to be known as a good person, someone who can be trusted, and he or she are concerned about his or her relationships and personal reputations. As we go through this paper, we will focus on answering what are ethics, what are your ethics, where do your ethics come from, and how do you manifest your ethics?

Culture Care Diversity and Universality; blending the two fields of nursing and anthropology, Theory, Research, and Practice