The American Nursing Association’s (ANA) code of ethics is the pledge that nurses are doing their best to provide care for their patients and communities (American Nurses Association [ANA], 2015). This pledge is a nurses’ guide for carrying out responsibilities in a manner consistent with quality in nursing care and the ethical obligations of the profession (ANA, 2015). Having a solid knowledge base regarding the ANA code of ethics is the key to health care professionals honoring nursing practice activities, education, and research. This knowledge base is more relevant than ever as the Affordable Care Act is changing the health care arena and nurses are called to transform the health care system that is accessible to all while improving health outcomes by providing quality, evidence-based, affordable patient-centered care (Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 2010).
Based on the real world observations of my work with multiple sclerosis, the affordable care act has provided access to care that has never been seen before. As a result, Optum nurses have needed to obtain registered
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For example, in my workplace, Optum, access to care has grown and has required Illinois nurse case managers in the healthcare industry to become licensed in numerous other states as Illinois has not implemented the Nurse Licensure Compact (Hudspeth, 2013). However, spheres of influence do not operate independently of one another as policy can be shaped in more than one sphere at a time (Mason et al., 2016). To exemplify, as nurses advocate for Illinois to become a compact state for nursing licensure, professional organizations, such as the Illinois Board of Nursing and the Case Management Society of America became involved, leading to communication with policy makers and the