The Code Of Ethics For Nurses

The code of ethics for nurses serves to provide consistent, clearly defined ethical and moral obligations and responsibilities throughout ANA. Establishing a clearly defined and uniform code of moral virtues and values to adhere to, the ANA can expect universally and uphold the highest expectations, no matter the facility that the nurses may work.

Provision 8.1 of the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics denotes that health is a universal right. The provision states, “the nurse collaborates with other health professionals and the public to protect human rights, promote health diplomacy, and reduce health disparities” (Lachman, Swanson, & Windland-Brown, 2015, p. 365). From chapter 1, the ethical theory that best fits provision 8.1 is utilitarianism. The ethical theory of utilitarianism theorizes “one should act so as to do the greatest good for the greatest number” (Baillie, McGeehan, Garrett, & Garrett, 2013, p. 4). This theory promotes a universal method because it signifies that even if a decision is made and does not benefit every single person; however, benefits most

Healthcare organizations are committed to providing clients with quality service and experience while promoting safety, health, and healing. Nurses have the biggest impact in providing safe client care and are known for their commitment in improving or increasing client health. However, this ethical commitment may not always be met due to breakdowns in healthcare delivery. Deviations such as adoption of unsafe practices or behaviors can lead to sentinel events. Any disconnects or disruptions can be a detriment to client care. This paper will present recent cases of witnessed breakdowns of facility protocols that have led to adoptions of unsafe nursing practices, discuss its impact to healthcare, and how it has affected my personal perspective on the issue.

According to Provision 8 of the American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics, “The nurse collaborates with other health professionals and the public to protect human rights, promote health diplomacy, and reduce health disparities.” (American Nurses Association, n.d.). Therefore, nurses and other healthcare workers must set aside any preconceived notions about a populace in order to provide equal care amongst all populations. This includes patients who are HIV positive. Nurses and healthcare workers must ignore the stigma surrounding the disease and communicate effectively with these patients in order to assure prompt, compassionate treatment.

Therefore, it is up to healthcare providers to be supportive of patient’s decisions and help them cope with whatever the outcome may be. According to the ANA Code of Ethics, “nurses establish relationships of trust and provide nursing services according to need setting aside any bias or prejudice” (http://nursingworld.org/DocumentVault/Ethics_1/Code-of-Ethics-for-Nurses.html). This means my role as a nurse is not to influence the individual’s decision, but to allow them to decide for themselves and respect their wishes. This quote from the Code of Ethics also supports the concepts of fidelity, autonomy, and beneficence. Fidelity is being loyal and supportive of our patients, while autonomy allows the patient to make their own decisions without fear of judgement from their nurse (http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/Resources/Ethics-Definitions.pdf). Beneficence is what I believe to be of the utmost importance in ethical situations, because if my patients cannot believe that I will be their advocate and treat them with compassion, then they cannot trust me and no relationship can be

I chose to analyze provision three contained in the American Association Code of Ethics. Provision three explores a nurses daily duty as it relates to patient rights as well as safety and patient privacy. In addition to other healthcare related responsibilities a nurse is effectively, a valuable patient advocate who must work to ensure that patients are treated fairly and competently, not only from the nursing staff, but all caregivers. (American Nurses Association). If a situation concerning incompetent care from other healthcare providers should arise, the nurse must assess issue on behalf of the patient and initiate action to have the issue corrected.

In the medical field, there are set of rules medical professions have to follow, which is called The Code of Ethics. Once you go more in depth into the medical field, The Code of Ethics become more specialized. For example there are ones for Social Workers - “Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers”, ones for Sports Medicine, one for Psychologists -“Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct”, one for Public Health- “Principles of the Ethical Practice”, and one specifically for Nurses- “American Nurses Association code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements.” For the most part the “main ideas” are the same but the way the professions apply them and some of the “little”

The Code of Ethics that I chose was the American Nursing Association’s Nurse’s Code of Ethics. The example I picked has to do with the Provision 3—3.6 and the ethical principle of beneficence. Provision 3 states “The nurse seeks to protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient.” (Slate, 2015). This means that the nurse acts in regard to the wellbeing of the patient, placing the patient at the top of the care being delivered. Further in depth, Provision 3.6 is based on addressing impaired practice if it ever takes place. “The duty of the nurse is to protect the patient, the public, and the profession from harm when a colleague’s practice appears to be impaired.” (Slate, 2015). This requires the nurse to protect the patient and the colleague

There is no doubt about the importance of ethics in our life as well as in our clinical area as nurses to protect ourselves, our patients, and their families. There are nine provisions in code of ethics. What I am interested to examine is provision number 3” the nurse promotes, advocates for, and protects the rights, health, and safety of the patient”. This provision consists of 6 statements, which are protection of “the rights of privacy and confidentiality, protection of human participants in research, performance standards and review mechanisms, professional responsibility in promoting a culture of safety, protection of patient’s health and safety by acting on questionable practice, and patient protection and impaired practice”

As nurses we are often expected to abide by a certain set of professional rules and obligations, as well as performing duties that we must follow. The field of ethics influences how we should treat each other, how we should act, what we should do, and why. The ANA code of ethics is a useful tool that helps guide nurses in everyday life and practice. When we are faced with an ethical dilemma the nursing code of ethics will aide us in making an appropriate ethical decision as well as caring for our patients effectively. The code of ethics for nurses consists of nine provisions and the accompanying interpretive statements. “It emphasizes the important qualities and responsibilities of a nurse (Provisions 1-3), distinguishes the limits of obligation

The nursing code to ethics sets forth the rules that carry out the responsibility for nurses and also the ethical obligation nurses have for themselves and for the patients in their care. Within the code of ethics for nursing, there are four other ethical theories used including the Social Contract theory, Cultural Relativism, Categorical Imperative, and Virtue ethics; the first one I will discuss is the Social Contract theory.

Nurses should acknowledge, respect and promote a patient’s right to get all the necessary information and make appropriate decisions.

As one of the cornerstone documents, the Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretative Statements helps to guide the ethical decisions of young and old nurses today (Finkelman & Kenner, 2014, p. 22). Nurses will encounter many different ethical dilemmas in the healthcare field and must be prepared. A few dilemmas include active euthanasia, influenza vaccinations, maintaining an ethical environment, keeping patients healthcare information confidential, and continuing education.

Describe a time when you witnessed an effective advocacy on behalf of a patient or population.

As the nurse, I would be inclined to tell my patient the results. Being an adult, she is in charge of her own medical decisions, unless deemed unfit by a doctor. Since none of her children are the documented Medical Power of Attorney, and therefore do not have a legal say in her care, I would like my patient to have as much autonomy in her health care as possible. Even though the patient is aphasic, she is still mentally aware and conscious of what is happening around her. I would explain to the family that I understand their reasons and concerns, but legally their mother has a right to know. Withholding this information, would affect her decides to be medically treated, or not treated based on the test results. Although the family believes their decisions are beneficent for their mother, my job, as the nurse is to maintain focus and veracity on my patient’s best interest, ensuring she has all the information needed to make an informed decision on how she wants to move forward.