Nursing, like other professionals, has set up values, ethical principles, and standards to which they aspire to act and can be judged. Ethical behavior results from nurses’ commitment to acting ethically. Ethical codes are adopted so that professionals differentiate right and wrong and know their expectations. They can apply understanding in their decisions. A code of ethics will guide nurses in conducting their functions honestly and with integrity. The Code of ethics encompasses the best professional practice in nursing. Contravening the Code of ethics in nursing results in professional disciplinary actions, which may even mean termination. According to American Nurses Association, standards of practice for registered nurses are responsibilities they are supposed to perform. The execution of these responsibilities is supposed to be done competently. In collaboration with standards of nursing practice, ethical practices bring out the nursing professional identity.
Importance of Code of Ethics
Nurses have been ranked the most ethical profession in the United States every year, besides one since 1999. Most years, nurses are way ahead of all other disciplines by point count. Due to ethical codes that arise from systematic guidelines, nurses have been shaped to a desired ethical behavior. Ethics in nursing offers a framework that helps them ensure the safety and well-being of patients and other healthcare providers. ANA’s Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements is the nationally accepted guide called The Code. The Code of ethics establishes the ethical standards in the nursing profession and guides in ethical analysis and decision-making (ANA, 2015).
In the healthcare setup, ethical values are paramount to every healthcare provider. Nurses, however, require ethical principles since they are patient caregivers. There are four main ethical principles in nursing: autonomy, justice, beneficence, and non-maleficence. These are daily nursing practices that nurses should be aware of to ensure safe, best, and most humane care to all patients. Most states in the US have included the ANA’s Code of ethics in their practice statement not only to be ethics related but also to provide legal implications. Continued revision is done regularly due to the importance of the Code to the nursing profession.
Nursing principles of ethics make them patients advocates. As patient advocates, nurses ensure every patient has the right to self-determination and decision-making. Patient education, medical information, and an explanation of available treatment options are done. Patients are then allowed to make an informed choice after explaining all potential risks, complications, and benefits. Ethical factors influencing patient acceptance of treatment, like age, culture, gender, social support, and sexual orientation, should be carefully thought through (Landis et al, 2020).
Ethically nurses should act for the good welfare of the patient. According to ANA, nurses should be kind and charitable. It is a nursing attribute to be compassionate. Fairness is paramount in all nursing and medical decisions. All patients should receive the same level of care despite individual financial status, social status, race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation. Nurses are ethically bound not to harm any patient. Patient harm may come; as a result, intervention and care or lack of it. Nurses are ethically bound to choose interventions and care that cause the least harm to the patient or the community and report treatment options that cause harm.
ANA Standards of Practice for RN Licensure
American Nursing Association has developed standards of nursing practice to ensure excellent nursing practices. A registered nurse should perform their functions responsibly and competently. The nursing care process involves assessment, diagnosis, outcome identification, planning, implementation, follow-up, and evaluation which is the basis of standards of practice. Registered nurses collect essential patient information. Comprehensive analysis of data collected on assessment is vital to ensure all patient needs are met and he is served in a dignified manner. Analysis determines the diagnosis and possible problems and challenges that might arise. From this, potential outcomes are identified, and the plan is individualized. The identified care plan is implemented through strategies to help attain expected results. Implementation of the care plan is supposed to be holistic, systematic, effective, timely, and patient-centered by ensuring its multidisciplinary team. Performance should be evidence-based, equitable, and efficient manner. After implementing patient care, the registered nurse should evaluate patient care continuously using the set outcome expectations. For nurses to achieve the level of the competencies mentioned above, they must complete a postsecondary training program to licensure to practice. They are also required to complete an associate degree in nursing from an accredited nursing institution to register for NCLEX-RN
Conclusion
The Code of ethics in nursing addresses the core values expected by a nurse as they perform their functions. The nursing profession’s Code of conduct creates the nursing professional identity. The Code of Ethics outlines four ethical principles that nurses should employ in patient care and management. These principles guide nurses in their decision-making. They are autonomy, recognizing patients’ rights and self-determination; beneficence; acting for the good and welfare of the patient; justice; fairness, and nonmaleficence, focusing on not harming the patient (Duquesne University, 2020). The codes of ethics help shape the quality of patient care by being non-negotiable. Standards of care emphasize every nurse’s expectations regarding competence and professionalism (Landis et al, 2020. The basis of the standard of care is the nursing care process. Patient care should be safe, efficient, timely, and patient-centered. Through continued individual and collective efforts by the nurse, advances in the standards of care are made through safe, quality, and conducive healthcare. Advances through scholarly inquiry, professional development, and health policy development help improve standards of practice.
References
Landis, T. T., Severtsen, B. M., Shaw, M. R., & Holliday, C. E. (2020, July). Professional identity and hospital‐based registered nurses: A phenomenological study. In Nursing forum (Vol. 55, No. 3, pp. 389-394). https://doi.org/10.1111/nuf.12440
American Nurses Association. (2015). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. https://www.nursingworld.org/coe-view-only
Duquesne University: School of Nursing (2020). Ethical principles in nursing: Tips for nurse leaders in promoting ethical practice. https://onlinenursing.duq.edu/blog/ethical- principles-in-nursing/
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