The American Nurses Association code of ethics was created as a guide to help nurses provide quality care while ensuring that all patients are protected and treated equally. Provision four of the ANA covers has three key points that emphasizes the nurse’s responsibility and obligation to his or her patient (ANA,2015, p4). The first statement touches on the nurse’s authority, accountability and responsibility. Nurses have authority in everything involving their patient’s care and are responsible and accountable for the decisions being made. For example nurses have to ensure that they are not over medicating patients narcotics as an over sedated patient cannot not participate in the decisions regarding their care. The second statement emphasizes …show more content…
in the nurses responsibility to made decisions and take necessary actions to promote health.
In others words the decisions being made by the nurses should be justifiable and patient care centered. An example of this would be a nurse caring for a patient who is unstable and exhibiting signs of delirium. As precautionary method the nurse turned on the bed exit alarm before leaving the room. Statement three focuses on the nurse’s responsibility in her actions, judgment, and action. For example a nurse failing to set up the necessary safety guard for fall precaution for a patient who has an altered mental status or has a history of fall and due to this the patient ends up injured or failing to recognize the signs of a patient then the nurse would be held accountable. The last statement focuses on delegation of nursing activities or tasks. Nurses are responsible of performing all nursing assessments and any type of care that does not fall under the obligation of a patient care assistant or medical …show more content…
assistant. I learned many things from provision four. After carefully reviewing this provision I was able to associated with “checks and balances”. Having authority in any role or field can quickly get out of hand. However this provision is set up to constantly have the nurse evaluating their course of action and whether the decision that was made was the correct one and whether or not it was justifiable. Additionally, this provision goes back to your responsibilities as a nurse and sets boundaries between tools that are available to you as an aid but not does not replace nor substitute your duties as a nurse. Failing to perform accurate nursing assessments and/or delegating nursing task to personnel that are not adequately trained can have serious repercussions. This places the patient at risk for potential injuries and is not ensuring that the patient is receiving optimal care. As a nursing student this provision helped me reinforce my way of handling certain situations. For example, clinical is a way for me to learn by being hands on and applying my in-class knowledge on disease process and nursing interventions. I do not have an issue with telling a nurse I’m shadowing when I do not know how to assess or perform a certain task because my top priority as a student is ensuring patient care and safety. In addition, it also helps reevaluate my nursing process and where or not the task being performed and the decisions being made are the best ones. The Code of Ethics for Nurses Developed by the American Nurses Association consists of nine provisions that state the primary duties, values, boundaries and obligation of a professional nurses to their patients (American Nurse Association (ANA), 2015).
Similarly, the International Council of Nurses Code of Ethics consists of four elements that state the nurse’s obligations towards the patient, people, practice, and co-workers (International Council of Nurses of Nurses (ICN), 2012). The National Student Nurses Association Codes of Ethics focuses on the students nurse conduct in the student world and in the clinical field, it also focuses on advocacy, professionalism, care, and leadership in the field (NSNA, 2017). The ICN, ANA, and NSNA Code of ethics focuses on promoting health, preventing illness, restoring health and alleviating suffering to patients in a culturally sensitive matter. All three codes stress the importance of safe guarding patient, family, and the community when their care is endangered by a healthcare professional. Similarly to the ANA and ICN codes the NSNA code of ethics also clarifies that students will refrain from performing certain skills or procedures without proper education (NSNA, 2017,p.6). These provisions or codes will help ensure patient safety and proper reporting when patient health is at
risk. There are several differences between the ANA, ICN, and NSNA Code of ethics. Unlike the ANA and the NSNA, the ICN code of ethics does not focuses on boundaries. ICN mainly focuses on patient needs and neglects the importance of boundaries between patient and coworkers. The ICN states that nurses and the society are responsible for supporting actions that will helps those in need but does not state what types of actions are being taken by the nurses. Provision eight of the ANA codes of ethics defines health as a universal human right, making the need for nursing universal (ANA, 2015,p30). The ANA codes of ethics are specific to health being a universal right while the ICN was broadly designed to fit different countries and cultures. The ICN
The main points of provision five of the ANA code of ethics are as follows: section 5.1, which is moral self-respect, suggests that nurses must care for themselves as much as they care for their patients. Nurses must do their best to maintain professional respect to themselves in regards of their competence and moral character. Section 5.2, which is professional growth and maintenance of competence, suggests that nurses must continue to self and peer evaluate themselves throughout their careers. Nurses must continue to learn current, up to date nursing practices through self, peer, and higher education. Section 5.3, which is wholeness of character, suggests that nurses must develop and take into consideration their own moral perspectives when practicing in their careers. Nurses are encouraged to express their moral viewpoint when it is helpful to the recovery of their patients, but must never express moral beliefs based on social stigmas that could negatively affect patient outcomes.
One cannot fake being a nurse, one must be extremely genuine in order to perfect being a nurse; therefore, explaining why nurses enforce and value their code of ethics. The purpose of the code of ethics is to ensure patient safety and implement standard of care by following the nine provisions of ethics. The nine provisions explain the nurses’ responsibility while caring for a patient; for example, maintaining the rights and autonomy of a patient. Another point that the provisions highlight is being the patient advocate, nurses are in the front line of patient care and they must protect their patients. An important guideline that the nine provision emphasize is the need and requirement for nurses to continue with their education to promote beneficent and to avoid maleficent. The National Nursing Association (ANA) states that the nursing code of ethics “reiterates the fundamental and the commitment of the nurse” (Lachman, Swanson, & Windland-brown, 2015). The purpose of this paper is to highlight the obligations and duty of a nurse and why it is important when attempting to maintain standard of care.
A code of ethics provides a standard by which nurses conduct themselves and their practice, observing ethical obligations of the profession and providing quality care. To achieve its purpose, a code of ethics must be understood, internalized, and used by nurses in all aspects of their work” (Aliakvari, 2015, p. 494).
Since you examined the number of moral issues you will face in this profession, look through the code of ethics that you chose for this assignment and explain
Nurses everywhere face problems and challenges in practice. Most of the challenges occur due to a struggle with the use of ethical principles in patient care. Ethical principles are “basic and obvious moral truths that guide deliberation and action,” (Burkhardt, Nathaniel, 2014). Ethical principles that are used in nursing practice include autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, veracity, confidentiality, justice, and fidelity. These challenges not only affect them, but the quality of care they provide as well. According to the article, some of the most frequently occurring and most stressful ethical issues were protecting patient rights, autonomy and informed consent to treatment, staffing problems, advanced care planning, and surrogate decision making (Ulrich et. al, 2013). The ethical issue of inadequate staffing conflicts with the principle of non-maleficence.
The Code of Ethics for Nurses was created to be a guide for nurses to perform their duties in a way that is abiding with the ethical responsibilities of the nursing profession and quality in nursing care. The Code of Ethics has excellent guidelines for how nurses should behave, however; these parameters are not specific. They do not identify what is right and wrong, leaving nurses having to ultimately make that decision. Ethics in nursing involves individual interpretation based on personal morals and values. Nursing professionals have the ethical accountability to be altruistic, meaning a nurse who cares for patients without self-interest. This results in a nurse functioning as a patient advocate, making decisions that are in the best interest of the patient and practicing sound nursing ethics.
According to American Nurses Association (ANA), (2010) “the nurse promotes, advocates for and strives to protect the heath, safety and right of the patient” (p. 6). Nursing responsibilities should be acted at the highest standard and must be based on legal and ethical obligations.
The ethical responsibility of nurses. Provisions 3 & 4 of the Code of Ethics states that the nurse promotes, advocates for, and protects the rights, health, and safety of the patient; and the nurse has authority, accountability, and responsibility for nursing practice; makes decisions; and takes action consistent with the obligation to promote health and to provide optimal care. (American Nurses Association, 2015)
The first provision states that the nurse practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and unique attributes of every person (ANA, 2015). This is based on the respect for human dignity, which I don’t believe was incorporated with this patient. This patient was in pain, and needed medication. She depended on the health care providers to show compassion and care for her as they would any other patient. A nurse should consider the needs of every patient and help advocate for them, instead of just ignoring their wishes. Provision two states that the nurses primary commitment is to the patient, whether an individual, family, group, community, or population (ANA, 2015). It involves the primacy of the patient’s interest and states that the primary commitment is to the patients. Each plan of care must reflect the fundamental commitment of nursing to the dignity of the patient (ANA, 2015). I also don’t think this was implemented because when the patient came seeking medication to ease her pain, the nurse did not stand up for her. They placed a label on her saying that she was a “drug-seeker”, which is not showing dignity towards the patient. The third provision states that the nurse promotes, advocates for, and protects the rights, health, and safety of the patient (ANA, 2015). The nurse did not advocate for this patient by any means.
Deontology is an ethical theory concerned with duties and rights. The founder of deontological ethics was a German philosopher named Immanuel Kant. Kant’s deontological perspective implies people are sensitive to moral duties that require or prohibit certain behaviors, irrespective of the consequences (Tanner, Medin, & Iliev, 2008). The main focus of deontology is duty: deontology is derived from the Greek word deon, meaning duty. A duty is morally mandated action, for instance, the duty never to lie and always to keep your word. Based on Kant, even when individuals do not want to act on duty they are ethically obligated to do so (Rich, 2008).
The American Nurses Association Code of Ethics for Nurses has five elements that pertain to the Principle of Autonomy. Each individual element applies to “respect individual persons” (Baillie, McGeehan, Garrett T, M., Garrett R. M., 2013, p.33). In Chapter 2 of the Health Care ethics: Principles and problems text, it discusses thouroghly the consent of an individual to make their own decisions regarding their health and future requests of care. As a nurse or within all heath care professions, we must treat each individual patient with care, respect, and to remain mindful to the patient regarding any aspect of their lives. In the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses, it explains ways of maintaining the empathy required in the health field. It further discusses that the respect for human dignity must be a priority, relationships to patients must remain neutral, the severity of the situation, the right to self-rule, and the professionalism that must be upheld by the nurse and their associates.
Ethics asses the values, morals, and principles of nurses. Legal codes or laws are rules established by our government. It’s important that nurses have a clear and comprehensive understanding of ethical and legal codes within their career. The understanding of these codes is essential for nurses to safely practice and to protect their patients. Nurses must abide by these principles or face the consequences of legal action. These principles include autonomy, utilitarianism, confidentiality, and many others. Autonomy is the agreement to respect ones right to determine a course of action, while utilitarianism is what is best for most people as defined in American Nurses Association. In order to give you a
The nursing code of ethics has a very standard definition. It is the base on how nurses should guide themselves in conduct by making the right decision regarding ethical issues. According to the National Student Nurses Association “students of nursing have a responsibility to society in learning the academic theory and clinical skills needed to provide nursing care” (2003). In the clinical setting nurses have a lot of responsibilities while caring for an ill patient, they have the obligation to practice their profession with compassion, love, and respect the uniqueness of each patient, as nurses we are not supposed to deny care to a patient because of their economic status, their skin color, race, or the nature of health problems, we are here to help the people in need in particular those of susceptible populations. The NSNA states that the code of conduct is based on an understanding that to practice nursing as a student is an agreement that trust and honesty is depended on us by society. The announcement of the code provided direction for the nursing student in the personal development of an ethical foundation and not limited to the academic or clinical environment but can assist in the holistic development of a person. (National Student Nurses Association, 2003)
In the code of ethics, the very first ethical principles that nurses are expected to uphold in order to exemplify that they are competent professionals are autonomy, beneficence, and nonmaleficence. That is, nurses as professionals are expected to advocate for their patients while preserving their respect and dignity and
The American Nurses Association created guidelines for the profession including, a set clear rules to be followed by individuals within the profession, Code of Ethics for Nurses. Written in 1893, by Lystra Gretter, and adopted by the ANA in 1926, The Code of Ethics for Nurses details the role metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics have within the field (ANA, 2015). Moral obligation for an individual differs within professions than it does within an individual’s personal life, so the code of ethics was written to establish rules within the profession. The moral obligation to provide quality care include the fundamental principles of respect for persons, integrity, autonomy, advocacy, accountability, beneficence, and non-maleficence. The document itself contains nine provisions with subtext, all of which cannot be addressed within this paper however, core principals related to the ethical responsibilities nurses have will be