Florence Nightingale's Influence In The Code Of Ethics In Nursing

In 1893, Mrs. Lystra E. Gretter, an instructor of nursing at the old Harper Hospital in Detroit, Michigan created an adaptation to the Hippocratic Oath. She titled it the Florence Nightingale pledge. It was used for nursing students to be sworn in on upon graduation (American Nursing Association). It is named after Florence Nightingale, who was classified as the "founder of modern nursing", after she spent time in the Crimean war caring for sick and injured soldiers. Up until this point in time nurses and hospitals were there only to care for individuals that were dying, but not to prevent death (Bassendowski, 2014). If it were not for Nightingale’s advocacy for “improvements in sanitation, crowding, and nutrition for the soldiers…, the

It focuses on the relative position of one social group in relation to others in society as well as on the root causes of disparities and what can be done to eliminate them (p. 28).

In the code of ethics advocacy is defined as “actively supporting a right and good cause, supporting others in speaking for themselves, or speaking on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves” (p. 22).

As healthcare providers, it is necessary that we treat all patients with the respect and dignity that they deserve. Karen Roush a doctoral candidate at New York University College of Nursing wrote in her paper Speaking Out on Justice that, “Ignorance is no excuse”. She explained that it is a nurse’s responsibility to remain informed not only on new drugs and evidence-based treatments. Also it is essential for nurses to be educated on the topics of human rights, hunger, abuse, oppression and privilege that occur in our own backyards. (p. 11). This is a powerful message as providing safe, competent care to a patient requires more than just understanding drug interactions and which drug works best for which illness. It requires understanding those individuals that we as nurses are working for. It requires, knowing their background, their history, their culture and their traditions. As a nurse you can have all the knowledge in the world when it comes to how to properly treat a wound, care for a cardiac

The principles include providing care that is patient centered, equitable, and sustainable. Providing quality of care, health promotion and illness prevention. Most of all remaining accountable for the care that is provided (Canadian Nurses Association). A major fragment in providing patient centered care is realizing that not all patients are the same. A treatment that works for one patient may not work for another patient. Also, that not all patients were born and raised in Canada. Statistics shows “approximately 19.8% (one per five) of Canada 's total population were born outside of the country" (Potter & Perry, 2009, p. 115). Thereby, meaning that a nurse needs to take into consideration that these individuals originate from another culture and therefore could maintain different beliefs and perceptions in regards to their health care. This is classified as providing culturally safe care. A concept that was not recognized until 1988. When a nursing student in New Zealand stood up during an education meeting and asked "you people talk about legal safety, ethical safety, safety in clinical practice and a safe knowledge base, but what about cultural safety? (Richardson & Williams, 2007, p. 701) Also when a group of Maori nurses felt they as insiders were incapable of providing appropriate