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Shannon Whalen September 11, 2010 Course 213 Section 2W2 Section 1: Nursing Code of Ethics Provision 1. The nurse, in all professional relationships, practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and uniqueness of every individual, unrestricted by considerations of social or economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of health problems. Provision 2. The nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient, whether an individual, family, group, or community. Provision 3.
The nurse promotes, advocates for, and strives to protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient. Provision 4. The nurse is responsible and accountable for individual nursing practice and determines the appropriate delegation of tasks consistent with the nurse’s obligation to provide optimum patient care. Provision 5. The nurse owes the same duties to self as to others, including the responsibility to preserve integrity and safety, to maintain competence, and to continue personal and professional growth. Provision 6.
The nurse participates in establishing, maintaining, and improving health care environments and conditions of employment conducive to the provision of quality health care and consistent with the values of the profession through individual and collective action. Provision 7. The nurse participates in the advancement of the profession through contributions to practice, education, administration, and knowledge development. Provision 8. The nurse collaborates with other health professionals and the public in promoting community, national, and international efforts to meet health needs.
Provision 9. The profession of nursing, as respected by associations and their members, is responsible for articulating nursing values, for maintaining the integrity of the profession and its practice, and for shaping social policy. Section 2: Applying Basic Principles to my Code of Ethic Provision 1. The nurse, in all professional relationships, practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and uniqueness of every individual, unrestricted by considerations of social or economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of health problems.
Beneficence – this basic principle states that the health care practitioners have taken the oath to promote the health and welfare of the patient above other considerations. Nurses have one of the most important jobs in the health care profession by standing by this oath. No matter what type of health issue the patient has, or what the patient’s religion is, the nurse should abide by the oath and give the best care possible. Provision 2. The nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient, whether an individual, family, group, or community.
Beneficence – this basic principle states that the health care practitioners have taken the oath to promote the health and welfare of the patient above other considerations. This principle fits with this provision as well. Even though a patient has a family or friends that may have opinions on how the patient should be cared for, the nurse has to make the patient the first priority and do what is best for that person. Provision 3. The nurse promotes, advocates for, and strives to protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient.
Beneficence – this basic principle states that the health care practitioners have taken the oath to promote the health and welfare of the patient above other considerations. Again, this principle fits with this provision. As stated above, the nurse has taken an oath to give the best care to the patient. The nurse is the patient’s advocate and should do their best to work on the patient’s behalf. The patient’s spirits will be higher knowing that they have someone on their side helping them to fight for the strength to get well. Provision 4.
The nurse is responsible and accountable for individual nursing practice and determines the appropriate delegation of tasks consistent with the nurse’s obligation to provide optimum patient care. Veracity – this principle binds the nurse and the patient in an association of truth. While the patient must tell the truth so should the nurse, this will help the nurse give the best care and it will also help the patient by receiving correct care. Since the nurse is responsible and accountable for the patient’s care then having the truth about the health needs is a major necessity.
The nurse is also responsible with delegating tasks to other health care providers when the need arises, so knowing as much correct information will make a huge difference in the health care of the patient. Provision 5. The nurse owes the same duties to self as to others, including the responsibility to preserve integrity and safety, to maintain competence, and to continue personal and professional growth. Autonomy – this principle means that it is a form of personal liberty; the individual is free to make choices and to implement those decisions, free from deceit, duress, constraint or coercion.
The nurse has the right to make choices that will benefit the patient and the decision to implement them without fear of being reprimanded. The nurse has gone to school to learn the trade of caring for people and has the competence to use what has been learned. Nurses are also learning everyday while on the job and their knowledge is continuing to grow from this. Provision 6. The nurse participates in establishing, maintaining, and improving health care environments and conditions of employment conducive to the provision of quality health care and consistent with the values of the profession through individual and collective action.
Role Fidelity ??? this principle states that health care is a team effort, no single individual can handle this role all alone. It is a collective action to continue to establish and maintain the health care environments and the conditions of the work place. The nurse should assist with keeping supplies filled, keeping abreast of new treatment or policies and keeping the work place clean and as stress free as possible. Provision 7. The nurse participates in the advancement of the profession through contributions to practice, education, administration, and knowledge development.
Role Fidelity ??? this principle states that health care is a team effort, no single individual can handle this role all alone. It is a collective action to continue to establish and maintain the health care environments and the conditions of the work place. This principle fits with this provision as well. No one individual can maintain all of the information needed to provide the best health care possible. The nurse continues learning everyday to gain better knowledge of the health care profession, whether it is through education, learning on the job from other health professionals or just through daily practice.
Nurses need to be open for my knowledge each and every day. Provision 8. The nurse collaborates with other health professionals and the public in promoting community, national, and international efforts to meet health needs. Role Fidelity ??? this principle states that health care is a team effort, no single individual can handle this role all alone. It is a collective action to continue to establish and maintain the health care environments and the conditions of the work place. Again, this principle fits with this provision.
As stated above, health care is a team effort. Nurses should be collaborating every day with other health professionals. Two heads are better than one. The more people that are working together, then there will be more ideas on how to help a patient. Nurses should be open to learning new health care options. Provision 9. The profession of nursing, as respected by associations and their members, is responsible for articulating nursing values, for maintaining the integrity of the profession and its practice, and for shaping social policy.
Beneficence – this basic principle states that the health care practitioners have taken the oath to promote the health and welfare of the patient above other considerations. Nursing is a very important role in health care. Nurses are the first people that patients see and usually they are the last. Patients can tell if a nurse takes pride in their profession by the type of care the patient is given. By taking the oath of promoting the best type of care, then the nurses are maintaining integrity for their profession. Section 4: Compare/Contrast Code of Ethics
The American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association are very similar. Both of these codes are focused on the care of the patient, making them the first priority. Compassion and respect for the patient is very important to both of these codes. Nurses and physicians are required to be honest with all professionals and patients. The American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association both request that the physicians and nurses continue their education and apply their knowledge each and every day.
The American Medical Association only has a few different codes of ethics than the American Nurses Association. The American Medical Association has a standard that the physician is to respect the law and to seek changes that may benefit the patient. My code of conduct does not focus on that standard. It is something that a doctor should initiate and the nurse would just follow the instructions of the physician. Another contrast between these too associations is that physicians have the choice of whom they will serve, except in emergencies.
Physicians have the choice of whom they will associate with and where they will provide medical care. Nurses have this choice as well but only to an extent. Nurses make each and every patient a priority to the best of their ability. I found that these too associations were actually more comparable then they were in contrast to each other. Section 4: Adding Ethical Principles to the Code of Ethics. I feel that the American Nursing Association’s Code of Ethics is not missing any codes. This code has included all of the requirements for the nursing profession.