Two Provisions From The Nursing Code Of Ethics For Nurses

Nursing is a career that is governed by a set of ethical principles. The duties of a nurse consist of care and support and its important that nurses are aware of their professional ethics. These principles are put into place to uphold and maintain moral values in healthcare. The American Nurses Association (ANA) code of ethics for nurses consists of nine provisions, outlined in the Code of Ethics for nurses with Interpretive Statements. These provisions are constructed to blueprint the role and responsibilities of a nurse. The chosen provisions being discussed will refer to the three main principles of patient autonomy, patient confidentiality, and patient rights.

In the Code of Ethics for Nurses provision 4 states “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.” This was not done, there was no regard for human life. The patients in the hospital were treated as a burden. A meeting was held where the doctors agreed that

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

A nurse is given an opportunity to help patients, either if its by helping them through a very serious sickness or just helping a patient get to the bathroom on time, or a time when happiness is overfilling the room and a child is being born. Registered nurses provide a wide variety of patient care services (Mitchell, p.12). A Nurse must always know where to begin and where to stop, as any other career in the health field there is always something that cannot be done by everyone but only the certified person, a nurse must always remain inside her scope of practice to prevent any misunderstandings. A nurse must also follow a code of ethics , the code of ethics of the American Association of Medical Assistants states that a nurse should at all times render service with full respect and dignity of humanity, respect confidential information obtained by a patients file, uphold the honor and high principles the profession and accept its discipline, and last but not least always want to improve her services to better serve the health and well being of the community. (Mitchell, p.65).

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.

Was the patient’s best interest at heart? Or was the physician trying to avoid a negative outcome? This is where collaboration among healthcare teams is vital to patient care and upholding patient wishes. Ultimately it is a nurse’s responsibility to advocate for the patient not only in respecting their wishes but communicating all available knowledge so that all parties involved can make and educated decision.

Butts and Rich (1-26) point out that effective nursing requires both broad knowledge and a set of well developed abilities and skills. The required tasks, are many and varied and in order to do them properly, care must be taken to respect each patient's rights and sensitivities. This is why, according to the authors, nursing care must be guided by a code of ethics. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview and discussion of the "Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements" developed by the American Association of Nurses (ANA 1-2).

CNA Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses (2008) provides guidance in dealing with cases like this by explaining the core nursing values and responsibilities involved which are: a) providing safe, compassionate, competent and ethical care; b) promoting health and well-being; c) promoting and respecting informed decision-making, and d) Preserving dignity; e) maintaining confidentiality, f) promoting justice and g) being accountable. The first nursing value is always expected to be upheld in any case because it is their duty to provide care using appropriate safety precautions and preventing/minimizing all forms of violence (CNA, 2008). The collaboration of the nurses between the physician and Mr. C’s family has been evident since then. This therefore calls Mr. C’s nurses to be more compassionate about his situation and try to recognize where he is coming from as they build a trust-worthy relationship before judging him or jumping into conclusions like he does not want to live anymore. Even if he decides to withdraw from these potentially life-sustaining treatments, health care providers are still obliged to give him the care he need the best way they can up until the end of his life. The second nursing value, just like the first one, still calls nurses to still aim to promote or at least maintain Mr. C’s health and well-being to the highest possible level regardless of the path he had chosen for his life. This can be achieved by continuing to collaborate well with other

Practicing in the pediatric unit is sometimes challenging to nurses due to the numerous ethical issues that do arise in the unit. Some of these ethical issues lead to dilemma and nurses are often caught in a situation where they have to make difficult decisions. However, nurses are required to apply critical thinking and use the existing American Nurses Association (ANA) code of ethics to govern their decisions, ensuring that they are ethical and legal. Failure to mediate appropriately may result in a violation of the code of ethics and a violation of patients’ rights.

Truth-telling is an important issue within the nurse-patient relationship. Nurses make decisions on a daily basis regarding what information to tell patients. The specific issue in question is whether a nurse should abide by the Code of Ethics for Nurses by revealing the truth to the patient or refrain from telling the truth to the patient because they are respecting the wishes of the patient’s family. Nurses and health care professionals should always tell the truth to their patients unless the patient forgoes their rights to autonomy or cannot think for themselves. By providing the patient with the truth, they allow the patient to come to terms with their conditions and give them the options for further treatment.

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

I love your last statement “Patient care is a collaborative effort and we should feel like our opinions are important and valued as healthcare professionals”. Unfortunately, I feel like some team members don’t feel the same way. Your story sounds similar to mines, with your concerns being dismissed, which is truly unfortunate, because we are at the bedside I feel like we know when our patients just aren’t right. ANA code of ethics provision 6.3 states “nurses have the right to freely and openly advocate for themselves and their patients, without fear of retribution” (Fowler, 2015). In the NICU our patient cannot advocate for themselves or tell us what is wrong, it is nursing assessment that helps guide the necessary actions needed for those

Also, if a nurse encounters a difficult patient whether it is because they interfere with them on a personal level (the patient may have a condition that a family member of theirs had) or simply because of personality clashes, the nurse is not able to refuse that patient assignment. Another example is if the family of the patient disagrees with their healthcare decisions of the patient. The wishes of the patient are respected as long as they are alert and oriented or clearly state their wishes in an advanced directive. Only when there is written confirmation that the patient is unable to make informed decisions is the family consulted (L. Stewart, personal communication, January 24, 2014).

As health care providers, the number one rule we are taught is beneficence which is to do no harm. The American Nurses Association (ANA) further defines beneficence as the “desire to do good”, “taking action to help others”, and is the primary goal of patient advocacy (American Nurses Association, n.d., p. 1). ANA’s Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretative Statements (American Nurses Association [ANA], 2015) states in provision three that is it the nurse’s duty to promote, advocate, and protect the rights health and safety of the patient. The nurse did a good job on a physical level of preventing harm and promoting health, by providing wound care, and consulting with the doctor as needed. The nurse unfortunately failed to access the patient’s support system and barriers to health care, and thus missed the opportunity to promote health maintenance by not readily encouraging the patient or his providers to act a team in

Nurses are subject to a plethora of legal, ethical, and professional duties which can be very challenging on a day to day basis. Some of these duties include respecting a patient 's confidentiality and autonomy, and to recognize the duty of care that is owed to all patients. As nurses our duties are always professional; however there are legal implications if these duties are breached. We also must consider when it is okay as nurses to breach these duties and therefore ethical issues arise. As nurses one of our main priorities is to advocate for our patients, without our own personal feelings on the matter taking over.