All individuals, in all societies, are accountable for their own actions. Whether that be to other persons, such a parents or teachers, organisations such as employers, the justice system or a regulatory body such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Everyone is responsible for their actions. The Nursing and Midwifery Council is a register of practitioners that have completed a satisfactory level of competence that enables nurses to practice. This register conveys to the public that the minimum standards have been met and that a certain standard of behaviour can be expected (Burnard and Chapman, 2003). It would appear that there is no one singular definition of accountability, yet it is cited by many professional nursing organisations as “a …show more content…
Confidentiality is an important part of nursing practice and the NMC Code (2015) states “As a registered nurse or midwife you must protect confidential information”. Patients are disclosing private and sensitive information and they have the right to expect that it will only be used for the purpose it was given (Burnard and Chapman, 2003) however, there are exceptions, which will be explored further on in this essay. During the course of this essay, confidentiality will be discussed in further detail and will be considered in relation to the law, nursing ethics and accountability under the NMC standards of conduct. There will also be an exploration of how consent, capacity and duty of care relate to