Introduction
The American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics governs nursing ethics for Nurses. Since 1896, the Code has guided nurses when making moral choices, encouraging honesty, kindness, and patient-centered care. It is necessary to reevaluate the Code of Ethics in light of the unusual circumstances presented by the COVID-19 outbreak and the geopolitical unrest, which have caused nurses to face hitherto unheard-of challenges. Nurses have looked to the Code of Ethics for guidance on patient advocacy, autonomy, and confidentiality. As the epidemic and social upheaval quickly alter the healthcare landscape, new ethical concerns have emerged that may not have been anticipated when the Code was last revised. Due to these challenges, examining the Code’s capacity to address contemporary nursing issues and direct nurses during pandemic care is important.
The ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses is examined in a study to see how it addresses the ethical issues nurses face during a pandemic like COVID-19. We aim to comprehend the ethical implications for nurses providing care under these conditions by examining the Code’s usefulness and limitations. This investigation will shed light on moral dilemmas, pandemic-related strategies, and nurses’ compassionate, patient-centered care decisions. This study seeks to increase awareness and promote dialogue concerning nursing ethics during the pandemic and social unrest.
Pandemic Ethics Code
The ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses is the nursing profession’s guiding text. It stresses patient-centered care, advocacy, respect for human dignity, and nurses’ ethical obligations. Ethical decision-making, integrity, and accountability are also stressed in the Code. Nurses have led patient care during the COVID-19 outbreak, which has challenged healthcare systems globally. Resource allocation, patient seclusion, and healthcare providers’ mental stress are pandemic ethical issues. Thus, the ANA Code of Ethics must be rigorously examined to see if it addresses these new issues.
Resource Allocation: The pandemic has taxed healthcare resources, making allocating precious medical supplies and equipment difficult. Nurses may face ethical dilemmas over patient outcomes and equitable distribution. The Code’s ability to advise nurses in resource allocation challenges must be assessed.
Patient Isolation: During a pandemic, nurses may face ethical dilemmas while isolating patients from their support systems for infection control. This isolation can upset patients, relatives, and staff. The Code may guide nurses on compassionate and ethical patient care during isolation.
Emotional and Psychological Impact: Nurses have suffered greatly from the pandemic. Witnessing patient pain and death while fearing infection can cause moral distress and exhaustion. Supporting nurses’ mental health and giving ethical self-care counsel requires evaluating the Code’s requirements.
Dellasega and Kanaskie interviewed 23 nurses in six Zoom focus groups about how the Code of Ethics applies to their pandemic practice. The study identified ethical issues nurses faced during this extraordinary moment. The study indicated that Provisions 4, 6, and 8 of the Code were most relevant to nurses’ pandemic issues. The nurse’s duties include promoting health and well-being, upholding human dignity, and advocating for patient’s rights and needs. Despite their relevance, the study found that none of the Code’s provisions explicitly addressed nurses’ moral suffering due to patient isolation and not being on the front lines of COVID-19 treatment (Dellasega & Kanaskie, 2021). This suggests epidemic Code holes. This study highlights the need to critically analyze the Code’s usefulness and limitations in directing nurses through COVID-19’s ethical problems. Understanding these constraints can help refine nursing ethics in a pandemic and social upheaval.
Isolation Ethics
Patient isolation prevents pandemics and protects vulnerable populations. Isolating infected people decreases disease spread and medical expenditures. Limiting contact protects patients and doctors. Infection control isolation creates ethical concerns for mental health. Pandemic sufferers typically feel alone, frightened, and worried. Many people recover emotionally with family. Infection control violates patients’ rights to emotional support and family presence during stressful times. Isolation affects patients and nurses (Dellasega & Kanaskie, 2021). Isolated patients may feel helpless, despondent, and annoyed due to uncertainty. Infection control and nursing may conflict ethically. Seeing lonely people struggle and being unable to help can morally and emotionally burden nurses.
Despite its ethical complexity, the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses does not include pandemic patient isolation. The Code supports patient advocacy, health, and well-being but does not address patient isolation and emotional and psychological needs. The Code does not address patient isolation’s ethical implications or the most humane treatment, leaving nurses uncertain. This underscores the need for ongoing ethical discussions to help nurses make pandemic decisions. Pandemic patient seclusion raises ethical questions for nurses. Healthcare facilities should offer nurses ethical counseling, moral distress debriefings, and mental health services (Dellasega & Kanaskie, 2021). Nursing organizations can also request patient isolation instructions and ethical issues in future Code of Ethics changes. Addressing these gaps will let nurses handle pandemic patient ethics with compassion, integrity, and patient-centered care.
Discussion
The ethical issues of the COVID-19 nursing study by Cheryl Dellasega and Mary Louise Kanaskie are essential. Six qualitative Zoom focus groups were organized with 23 nurses. Nurses can address their ethical dilemmas while caring for patients during this unusual time. Zoom focus groups showed nurses’ emotional and professional struggles. Three pandemic ethics-related components were found in the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses. Provision 4 emphasized nurses’ power, accountability, and duty while making tough patient care, resource allocation, and safety decisions (Dellasega & Kanaskie, 2021). Provision 6, which highlights the nurse’s role in building and maintaining optimal care environments, was crucial throughout the pandemic. Provision 8’s focus on working with other health professionals and the public to protect human rights and promote health diplomacy was vital in addressing the pandemic’s consequences on health inequities, access to healthcare, and public health. During the pandemic, nurses followed these principles.
Nurses learned pandemic ethics from Zoom focus groups. Patient seclusion and mental health were ethical concerns. Nurses discussed isolating patients to stop the virus. Infection control conflicted with patients’ psychological and emotional well-being, often requiring loved ones to heal. Nurses were assigned to non-COVID specialty areas and not participating in COVID patient care, which generated moral discomfort (Dellasega & Kanaskie, 2021). This illustrated the ethical tension between doing their jobs and helping during a public health crisis. The study highlighted how difficult ethical decision-making is during a pandemic and how nurses need more talks and support.
Pandemic Ethics Strategies
Healthcare providers must communicate for ethical pandemic decision-making. Nurses should feel comfortable discussing moral issues, concerns, and emotions with peers and superiors. Nurses can share their feelings and seek support at team meetings, debriefings, and experience sharing. Nurses can also handle pandemic ethics with good healthcare support networks. Counseling, peer support, and mental health resources can help nurses cope, minimize moral anguish, and build resilience. Recognizing and treating moral pain helps nurses. Prioritize healthcare professionals’ self-care. Encourage breaks, rest between shifts, and health programs like mindfulness, stress management, and exercise. Counseling and employee assistance programs can also help nurses handle ethical issues.
Pandemic isolation causes loneliness, fear, and vulnerability. Nurses are empathetic and supportive even when patients need physical separation. They listened to patients’ difficulties, used virtual communication tools to stay in touch with families, and provided creative, emotional assistance to foster human connection and compassion. Patient-centered treatment involves understanding and adapting to patients’ values, beliefs, and cultures. Pandemic decisions must be ethical. Distributive justice and utilitarianism should be used to allocate scarce medical supplies and beds equally (Dellasega & Kanaskie, 2021). Responsible, transparent decision-making is ethical. Staff, patients, and the public should understand healthcare facilities’ decision-making and ethics. These methods allow nurses to face pandemic ethical dilemmas with compassion, honesty, and patient-centered care, protecting patients and healthcare providers.
Personal Reflection
As a nursing student, researching pandemic nursing ethics has been eye-opening. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how hard healthcare providers, especially nurses, work to deliver excellent treatment while managing complicated ethical issues. This work helped me appreciate the importance of ethical decision-making in nursing and the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses’ role in directing nurses’ behavior. Patient isolation’s ethical concerns were my biggest revelation. Infection control is necessary, but learning about its emotional and psychological toll on patients and nurses has been painful and enlightening. Nurses must walk a fine ethical line between protecting patients from infection and supporting their loved ones. Dellasega and Kanaskie (2021) found that the Code of Ethics may not cover all pandemic nursing challenges. This discovery has made me realize that ethical principles must be constantly reviewed and updated to be current in healthcare. I am more devoted to ethics as I study nursing and enter the field. The Code of Ethics will guide me to offer patient-centered treatment, fight for patient rights, and work well with interdisciplinary teams. I need assistance and self-care to deal with moral anguish as a nurse.
Conclusion
Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical turmoil have provided nurses with significant ethical concerns. At this extraordinary moment, nurses have encountered patient seclusion, resource allocation, emotional effects, and moral hardship. The ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses has long guided ethical decision-making but cannot address these new concerns directly. The nursing Code of Ethics emphasizes patient advocacy, ethics, and collaboration. As the pandemic has changed healthcare, nurses have faced ethical challenges that may still need to be addressed in the Code. Dellasega and Kanaskie’s investigation revealed these inadequacies, leading calls for ongoing talks and Code amendments to clarify ethical decision-making during a pandemic. Crises need ethical decision-making. Nurses must maintain compassion, patient-centered care, and integrity in challenging settings. Ethical consultations, mental health assistance, and open communication from institutions and nursing organizations help nurses through this difficult time. During a pandemic, nurses must promote self-care and recognize their mental stress.
Reference
Dellasega, C., & Kanaskie, M. L. (2021). Nursing ethics in an era of pandemic. Applied Nursing Research, 62, 151508. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnr.2021.151508
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