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Nursing Code of Ethics The nursing principles of ethics is the duty contained within the code of conduct. Nursing is a morally responsible profession in which duties must be carried out with respect to the individual. Nurses have a nonnegotiable obligation in maintaining the optimal health and quality of life of a patient. The patient is the main commitment in providing nursing care, along with the families and communities. The nurses concern for the patient’s well being is represented in the provision of the Code of Ethics. The purpose of this paper is to interpret the provisions from the Code of Ethics for Nurses in health care settings: respect for autonomy, beneficence and nonmaleficence, and confidentiality.
Autonomy in Nursing Code
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Beneficence is the act of doing good, for example, rescuing a person from a burning house, advising an addict to quit doing drugs, or providing vaccinations to an individual. While nonmaleficence is the duty that HCP’s have to protect the patient’s safety and avoid evil, for instance: abstaining from saying hurtful words to a person, or not giving a harmful medication to a patient. Baillie et al. (2016) states it is impossible to do all good and also to avoid all evil. Provision 4 explains the nurse’s obligation in providing optimal patient care is determined by the appropriate delegations of tasks that a practicing nurse is responsible and accountable for. The patient has a legal right to negate treatment, as often seen, but that does not make it an ethical decision for their health. The nursing indications principle is the obligation a nurse has in direct care activities, delegating, and teaching. The nurse maintains accountability and responsibility in accord with the standard of patient care, under these nursing indications. In the case of a patient complaining of severe pain the nurse who contacts the physician to obtain an order for pain relief is acting in beneficence to that patient. An accountable nurse acts ethically under the code of conduct to be able to answer to oneself and others for their own actions. These actions cannot judge what life and health are worth to a …show more content…
The principle of nonmaleficence would ensure no harm is caused to Daisy since she is already at risk for psychological damage related to this sort of experimental procedure. If, for example, Daisy were to die before she competently decided what to do with her ovarian tissue the proper consent with detailed information would have been established, so that no other person may use her tissue. On the other hand, no one has ever died from not being able to reproduce making removal and freezing of the tissue not necessary for survival. Daisy’s mother, Mrs. Jones, may believe that by going through with the OTC procedure she is protecting her daughter from future psychological distress associated with being an infertile woman. Mrs. Jones is considering the “good” Daisy may have in the future with the option of being able to access those tissues. The principles of proportionality can be considered in the decision making for the case of Daisy. Proportionality factors are alternatives to attaining good, the level, certitude, probability, and wedge principle of good or evil. In doing good the nurse’s obligation for a certain individual is dependent on the accountability and responsibility to providing optimum care.
Confidentiality in Nursing Code of Ethics
Many patients confide in health care providers with their personal information. Therefore, it is critical for nurses to protect a
The ethical principle of nonmaleficence demands to first do no harm and in this case protect the patient from harm since she cannot protect. Nurses must be aware in situations such as this, that they are expected to advocate for patients in a right and reasonable way. The dilemma with nonmaleficence is that Mrs. Boswell has no chance of recovery because of her increasing debilitating mental incapability and the obvious harm that outweighs the intended benefits. If the decision were to continue treatment, suffering of the patient and family would be evident. Autonomy is the right to making own decisions and freedom to choose a plan of action. When making decisions regarding treatment of another person, it is important to respect the expressed wishes of the individual. John says that his mother would want to live as long as she could, but questions arise related to her quality of life and perception of prolonged suffering by prolonging the dying process. In BOOK states that quality of life changes throughout one’s life ...
When an individual is admitted to the hospital, it is projected that the treatment provided by the practitioners will not cause that patient any unnecessary harm. In order to advocate for patients, the provisions outline nurses’ responsibility to continue with their education in order to provide the best care. The fifth provision states that nurses must “maintain competence, and continue personal and professional growth” (Windland-Brown et al., 2015)). The ethical standpoint of beneficent is HCP doing all they can to improve the patient health issue and prevent
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).
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.
To begin with, there is Autonomy with Lora wanting to make the choice on not having the abuse she encountered be reported. Secondly, Beneficence is present with the nurse wanting to do good by doing what is best for the patient, preventing further abuse, and getting Lora out of the environment she is in. Morally, the nurse wants to keep Lora’s abuse private and confidential per Lora’s wishes, but legally the nurse is required by law to report the abuse no matter what age the child is. Nonmaleficence is present in that the nurse must consider the pain in suffering the patient and family will encounter when this is reported resulting in Lora being removed from everything that is familiar to her with the end result of getting Lora out of the abuse and into a healthy environment. The nurse has to be truthful to Lora and explain why the nurse will report the abuse and what the process will be which pertains to the principle of Veracity. The nurse must keep the information that was given about the abuse confidential by only telling the appropriate agency or those in a need to know basis that will deal with the abuse. This is one of the few times that the nurse will go against the patient’s wishes of privacy due to the vulnerability principle. This occurs when there is a need for protection for
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.
Ethical principles in healthcare are significant to the building blocks of mortality. The principles are beneficence, autonomy, justice, and nonmaleficence. Although these principles can be certainly followed they can also be disregarded. Beneficence is a theory that assures each procedure given is entirely beneficial to that patient to help them advance within their own good. For example, There was a young girl, the age of 17. She had been being treated at a small private practice since she was born. She was recently diagnosed with lymphoma and was only given a few more years to live. Her doctors at the private practice who had been seeing her for years were very attached to her and wanted to grant this dying girl her every wish. They promised
Providing the steps to ethically sound excellent care, healthcare providers must acknowledge first the legal and ethical matters involved with proper investigation and then devise a plan for best possible action recognizing the rights of the patient and its benefits followed by the application of the chosen intervention with positive outcome in mind (Wells, 2007). Delivery of excellent and quality of care at a constant level (NMC, 2008) must be marked in any responsibilities and duties of the care provider to promote exceptional nursing practice. Codes of nursing ethics and legal legislation have addressed almost all the necessary actions in making decisions in consideration to the best interest of the patient. Nurses must make sure that they are all guided by the set standard to lead their action and produce desirable and ethically sound outcomes.
The nursing code of ethics is a formal statement of the ideals and values of nursing and ethical principles that serve as standards for nurses‟ actions. Jurisprudence is the scientific study of law and law is defined as those rules made by humans, which regulate social conduct in a formally prescribed and legally binding manner. Nursing ethics and law are very important because they are concerned with the provision of services that have an impact on human health and life which can cause dilemma during practice and if not handled adequately can lead to negative impact on the client and all the people concerned with the care the client. Therefore Standards must be set to guide the conduct of the nurse in making proper and adequate decisions for the safety and protection of the client, by so doing the nurse protects herself or himself from litigation (Burke, K. 2000).
The word ethics is derived from the Greek word ethos, which means character (1). Being moral always fills a nurse with morals respects, guidelines of good judgment and expert lead. There are three essential obligations for nurses, among many other which are the duty of autonomy, confidentiality, and obligation of care to all patients (2). There are professional duties with becoming distinctly legitimate obligations if any law and policies are ruptured in between professional practice. In 2001, a review found that there was an apparent requirement for more guidance on moral predicaments inside the medical professionals, subsequent to expanding legal cases and open request (3). Medical attendants ought to withstand to regulatory law and statutory law while managing the nursing practice.
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.
Another huge ethical topic is the patient’s right to choose autonomy in the refusal of life-saving medicine or treatment. This issue affects a nurse’s standards of care and code of ethics. “The nurse owes the patient a duty of care and must act in accordance with this duty at all times, by respecting and supporting the patient’s right to accept or decline treatment” (Volinsky). In order for a patient to be able make these types of decisions they must first be deemed competent. While the choice of patient’s to refuse life-saving treatment may go against nursing ethical codes and beliefs to attempt and coerce them to get treatment is trespass and would conclude in legal action. “….then refusal of these interventions may be regarded as inappropriate, but in the case of a patient with capacity, the patient must have the ultimate authority to decide” (Volinsky). While my values of the worth of life and importance of action may be different than others, as a nurse I have to learn to set that aside and follow all codes of ethics whether I have a dilemma with them or not. Sometimes with ethics there is no right or wrong, but as a nurse we have to figure out where to draw the line in some cases.
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
Integrity, respect for persons, justice, non-maleficence, and responsibility are all identified within the code, however compassion is not directly stated but is implied. To show compassion for others during suffering is an almost automatic response in nursing. When nurses decide to act either beneficently or non-maleficently they are doing a service to those being cared for. When dealing with human lives moral value becomes especially important, and is not situationally dependent. Ethical neutrality does not have a place in professional ethics, and an obligation to respect the moral values is necessary. The code deals with specific issues related to the nursing profession, and ensures standards are upheld. Creation of code of ethics within a profession limits misconduct, create safeguards, promote trust for the profession within society, and preserves the integrity of the profession (Soskolne, 1984) It is important for me to emphasize the difference between the nurse’s code of ethics and the Hippocratic Oath. The nurses ethical code is tailored toward the care provided to the patient, and not the involved science and diagnostic aspect of the