Nurses are faced with ethical dilemmas related to clinical issues, and disease and treatment decisions daily (Kangasniemi,
Also, Provision 4.2 addresses the fact that all nurses are accountable for decisions and actions taken in the course of the nursing practice (P473). Although no harm was done, nursing professionals must learn from wrongful acts and stand up for what we know and believe is ethically
Working in correctional settings I am faced daily with many ethical dilemmas. The correctional population has many additional challenges then community patients which plays a big role in the inmate patient’s treatment and care. One particular case I can recall is a patient that was in the ICU and was dying from cancer. All treatment and interventions had been exhausted on this patient; however her family was still adamant on wanting everything done for their loved one. After long discussion with the family, Chaplin, providers, and I the patient’s code status was changed and end of life care was provided.
The American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics exists as a guide for nurses and other medical professionals; the nine provisions included lead medical professionals to have the safest, most respectful practice possible. Provision six in the Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements focuses on the medical environment and what is done to ensure an environment that is ethical and provides safe and competent healthcare. (ANA, 2015) Virtues are what drives people to do the ‘right thing’. They can be learned and habituated; but for that to happen there must be an environment that has a strong positive moral atmosphere.
Upon entrance into the nursing profession, nurses immediately become responsible to uphold the goals, values and ethical principles that guide the profession. With these fundamentals as a framework, the American Nursing Association (ANA) developed specific scope and standards to foster competent nursing practice. The scope and standards of practice do not direct a nurse on how to perform specific functions or tasks, however; it does provide a framework for exemplary practice. The ANA scope and standards affects daily nursing practice by providing a better understanding of parameters of scope, preparing the nurse for ethical challenges presented in the healthcare environment and reaffirming the nurse’s commitment to the profession and to society.
Amidst a whirlwind of change, nurses continue their roles as competent, honorable professionals. A relatively new issue, cultural integrity, correlates with the Code regarding “treatment of the human response.” The American Nurses Association’s “Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements”, also called the Code, highlights nurses’ consensus on professional principles. Nursing ethics guide how practitioners treat their patients and peers. Sensitivity to individual societal, familial and cultural background plays an important role in organizational integrity.
The various nursing roles include decision-making, patient safety, safe environment, communicate effectively with the healthcare team, and participate in updating healthcare policies and procedures. Registered nurses can build their clinical and professional capabilities through education, clinical experience, a context of practice, relevant legislation and the employment setting to develop skills that remain within the legislated professional practice standards, codes, and competencies. RNs should only deliver care within their scope of practice. A tool such as a decision-making framework and decision-making tools are developed by NMBA to guide nurses in making decisions about their scope of practice. RNs should be accountable for any decisions they make in their nursing practice and should be able to justify their decisions based on the code of ethics and professional conduct, evidence-based practice, policies and procedures of the workplace setting.
What is the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses? Nurses play an essential role in providing empathetic care for patients and supporting them in what may be some of the most challenging moments of their lives. With this role comes the complexities of working with patients at critical moments when they are vulnerable and dealing with numerous privacy and other sensitive issues. To ensure that nurses operate with integrity in their work, the ANA code of ethics guides nurses in carrying out their roles with the highest standard of ethical care.
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.
Every nursing situation has the outcome, and care nurses provide to individuals, families, and communities is for the promotion of health. Caring as ethical foundation of nursing is vital in the sense that nursing profession core is to promote health and provide care within the scope of their practice. Nurses have commitment and responsibility to act in a way that is set by the American Nurses Association to carry this duty and maintain the integrity of the organization. According to Epstein & Turner ( 2015) ANA, 2015b code of Ethics for nurses is a foundation for decision making and conduct to guide nurses in any healthcare setting to perform their professional and personal values also to demonstrate ethical competence to the society.
They influence the culture of an organization and are responsible for creating credibility and trust (Bahreini et al., 2011) when they make decisions in ethical dilemmas. Taking a look at what went wrong and why decision-making failed reveals moral and ethical shortcomings. One must look at the moral and ethical stance of the health care organization and the role of the head nurse’s leadership in creating a culture of values on a ward( Zydziunaite,2015). Ulrich , (2010) found that nurses sometimes are not aware of the options when they are faced with ethical dilemma and that nurses are often inadequately prepared to address them. Musto & Schreiber (2012) adds that nurses suffer from moral distress when they have doubts with their nursing practice and questioning about their decisions.
A nurse must keep up to date on education and new processes in health-care, so they can provide the best care. As a nurse, you have promised to give each of your patients the best care that can possibly be given. Nurses must follow a code of ethics, to act safely, provide ethical care no matter how they feel about the patient or the reason they are in your care. Following this code of ethics shows your commitment to caring for people and society, it is a guide of ethics and standards to follow to keep everyone safe. Nursing is also a wonderful opportunity to meet hundreds of people from almost every nationality and every walk of life.
Nursing is a responsibility to provide the finest care regardless of the patient’s age, race, religion, sex, disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or their past. Nurses must keep up to date on education, new processes, policies and keep informed about new laws and regulations in healthcare, so outstanding healthcare can be administered. As a nurse, you have undertaken a responsibility to provide people the finest quality care that can possibly receive. It is a nurses’ duty to follow the code of ethics, to act
When an ethical issue arises with a nurse, it might make the nurse feel uncomfortable and when they provide patient care this could decrease the quality of care. Being aware of ethical issues and how to handle them will increase the quality of care. Educating the nurse on ethical issues and discussing these issues will help the nurse feel more comfortable. By following the code of ethics and remembering the ethical principles the nurse can guide themselves through hard decision against their own person values, opinions, and beliefs. Each and every nurse should treat each patient with respect of autonomy, beneficence, and justice because; in any situation the quality of care should never change.
I feel that the one provision in the Code of ethics that sticks out to me is provision 2. This is “The nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient, whether an individual, family, group, community, or population” (Lachman, O’Connor & Winland-Brown, 2015, p.21). The first part of this provision is the primacy of the patient’s interest. This means that the patient’s primary commitment is to the health care client. One of the best examples of this is nurses being patient advocates.
