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Ethical importance in nursing
The importance of nursing ethics in nursing
Ethics is very important in nursing care
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Ethics encompass how we should act, treat others, what we should do and why. They govern individuals, the society or group to which they belong to include any profession such as nursing. The most common basic social agreements include not killing, harming, or stealing. Groups such as the nursing profession include caring for others in ways that are quidded by the individual’s autonomy. (Epstein, Turner, 2015). Throughout history individuals examine human behavior. Often finding fault or lack in reaching human potential, these individuals develop theories to help people improve their behavior. Ultimately, they seem to hope for the betterment of humanity through the implementation of their work. History demonstrates the improvement in human conditions …show more content…
Nursing itself is the science of utilizing evidence-based practices in the art of fostering health. The American Nurses Association defines the profession in this way, “Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and activities, prevention of illness and injury, facilitation of healing, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, groups, communities, and populations” (American Nurses Association, 2015, p. 1). ANA also introduces scopes and standards for professional performance. Standard 7 calls the registered nurse to practice ethically. In doing so, nurses utilize nursing theories to make ethical decisions and regulate their behavior in the filling of duties. Theories have common concepts allowing them to be understood and combined in any given situation.
Various theories provide a foundation for ethical decision making and behavior. From any set of theories, the common ethical principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice can ensure that reasonable decisions are made and actions taken in filling nursing responsibilities. (ben Example: An elderly
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Those that are unable to participate do not receive services or goods. That means the most vulnerable may not receive goods and services. This violates the principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. There is no intention to do good, prevent harm. In light of justice, the theory holds that those that can meet the demands of service agreements deserve it and those that can do not deserve. Those left with out care deserve what they created for themselves. Both individuals and the larger society might suffer if this theory causes imbalance. Also, this theory may be applied to hold individuals and business responsible in the system. It also gives them a personal stake in the process. It is important to have an individual or group to praise or punish. This helps keep them motivated and responsible. The concept of supply and demand in a capitalist system can also regulate distribution. It is the point of the dichotomy maintaining the rights of the individual. It helps insure what is provided respects the rights of the
Nurses everywhere face problems and challenges in practice. Most of the challenges occur due to a struggle with the use of ethical principles in patient care. Ethical principles are “basic and obvious moral truths that guide deliberation and action,” (Burkhardt, Nathaniel, 2014). Ethical principles that are used in nursing practice include autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, veracity, confidentiality, justice, and fidelity. These challenges not only affect them, but the quality of care they provide as well. According to the article, some of the most frequently occurring and most stressful ethical issues were protecting patient rights, autonomy and informed consent to treatment, staffing problems, advanced care planning, and surrogate decision making (Ulrich et. al, 2013). The ethical issue of inadequate staffing conflicts with the principle of non-maleficence.
Deontology is an ethical theory concerned with duties and rights. The founder of deontological ethics was a German philosopher named Immanuel Kant. Kant’s deontological perspective implies people are sensitive to moral duties that require or prohibit certain behaviors, irrespective of the consequences (Tanner, Medin, & Iliev, 2008). The main focus of deontology is duty: deontology is derived from the Greek word deon, meaning duty. A duty is morally mandated action, for instance, the duty never to lie and always to keep your word. Based on Kant, even when individuals do not want to act on duty they are ethically obligated to do so (Rich, 2008).
During week 4, we became familiar with the application of ethics in the nursing practice settings. We learned about ethical theories and principles, which are crucial when practicing in any clinical settings during ethical decision-making and while facing one or multiple ethical dilemmas. Also, we were introduced to the MORAL model used in ethical decision – making progress. The MORAL model is the easiest model to use in the everyday clinical practice, for instance at bedside nursing. This model can be applyed in any clinical settings and its acronyms assist
Define a critical thinking task that your staff does frequently (Examples: treat high blood sugar, address low blood pressure, pain management, treating fever etc.). Create a concept map or flow chart of the critical thinking process nurses should take to determining the correct intervention. Include how much autonomy a nurse should have to apply personal wisdom to the process. If the critical thinking process was automated list two instances where a nurse may use “wisdom” to override the automated outcome suggested. Note the risks and benefits of using clinical decision making systems.
This paper will focus on two BNUR leaner outcomes (University of Calgary, 2013) relevant to my learned understanding of nurses as ethical decision makers. I will outline the ways that I have seen ethics used and not used in practice, what I learned about ethics and its use in my theory courses and throughout my practicums, and I will reflect on how this understanding will translate into my professional practice moving forward.
The Code of Ethics for Nurses was created to be a guide for nurses to perform their duties in a way that is abiding with the ethical responsibilities of the nursing profession and quality in nursing care. The Code of Ethics has excellent guidelines for how nurses should behave, however; these parameters are not specific. They do not identify what is right and wrong, leaving nurses having to ultimately make that decision. Ethics in nursing involves individual interpretation based on personal morals and values. Nursing professionals have the ethical accountability to be altruistic, meaning a nurse who cares for patients without self-interest. This results in a nurse functioning as a patient advocate, making decisions that are in the best interest of the patient and practicing sound nursing ethics.
The American Nurses Association (ANA) developed a foundation for which all nurses are expected to perform their basic duties in order to meet the needs of the society we serve. The ANA “has long been instrumental in the development of three foundational documents for professional nursing; its code of ethics, its scope and standards of practice, ands statement of social policy.” (ANA, 2010, p. 87) The ANA defined nursing as “the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations” and used to create the scope and standards of nursing practice. (ANA, 2010, p. 1) These “outline the steps that nurses must take to meet client healthcare needs.” () The nursing process, for example, is one of the things I use daily. Other examples include communicating and collaborating with my patient, their families, and my peers, and being a lifelong learner. I continually research new diagnoses, medications, and treatments for my patients. As a nurse of ...
Davis J. Anne Diane Marsha and Aroskar A. Mila (2010). Ethical Dilemmas and Nursing Practice. Pearson
Since you examined the number of moral issues you will face in this profession, look through the code of ethics that you chose for this assignment and explain
The classical term for the word ethics is, moral philosophies that rule an individual’s or group behavior or action. The American Nurses Association used ethics to write the Code of Ethics for Nurses with these values and visions in mind: “(1) As a statement of the ethical obligations and duties of every person who chooses to enter the profession of nursing. (2) To act as the nonnegotiable standard of ethics. (3) To serve as an expression of the understanding on nursing’s commitment to society.” (Nurses Code of Ethics, 2015). With our ever-changing society and healthcare, also comes changes to the American Nurses Association’s
The word ethics is derived from the Greek word ethos, which means character (1). Being moral always fills a nurse with morals respects, guidelines of good judgment and expert lead. There are three essential obligations for nurses, among many other which are the duty of autonomy, confidentiality, and obligation of care to all patients (2). There are professional duties with becoming distinctly legitimate obligations if any law and policies are ruptured in between professional practice. In 2001, a review found that there was an apparent requirement for more guidance on moral predicaments inside the medical professionals, subsequent to expanding legal cases and open request (3). Medical attendants ought to withstand to regulatory law and statutory law while managing the nursing practice.
The American Nurses Association created guidelines for the profession including, a set clear rules to be followed by individuals within the profession, Code of Ethics for Nurses. Written in 1893, by Lystra Gretter, and adopted by the ANA in 1926, The Code of Ethics for Nurses details the role metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics have within the field (ANA, 2015). Moral obligation for an individual differs within professions than it does within an individual’s personal life, so the code of ethics was written to establish rules within the profession. The moral obligation to provide quality care include the fundamental principles of respect for persons, integrity, autonomy, advocacy, accountability, beneficence, and non-maleficence. The document itself contains nine provisions with subtext, all of which cannot be addressed within this paper however, core principals related to the ethical responsibilities nurses have will be
The four fundamental nursing responsibilities of promoting health, preventing illness, optimizing health and alleviating the ill are represented in the code of ethics. (Arnold & Boggs, 2016) One can say that the code of ethics are rules that a nurse needs to follow in order to effectively communicate and protect the patients. The American Nurse Association provided the code of ethics to guide nurses to ensure that patient’s care, safety, rights and health are well cared for and well managed. Models like Utilitarian, deontological, and the human rights-based all contribute in answering dilemmas that can arise with a patient. Thus, explaining what some of the code of ethics are, and how the code of ethics influence our responsibilities as a nurse will impact the overall care of the
Ethics asses the values, morals, and principles of nurses. Legal codes or laws are rules established by our government. It’s important that nurses have a clear and comprehensive understanding of ethical and legal codes within their career. The understanding of these codes is essential for nurses to safely practice and to protect their patients. Nurses must abide by these principles or face the consequences of legal action. These principles include autonomy, utilitarianism, confidentiality, and many others. Autonomy is the agreement to respect ones right to determine a course of action, while utilitarianism is what is best for most people as defined in American Nurses Association. In order to give you a
Theory development and research have provided a framework and body of knowledge for nursing to maintain autonomy and improve quality of care. As early as the 1800s, nursing and non-nursing theorists had developed theories and models which are continually applied to nursing practice (KEEP OR GET RID OF?). Nursing theorist Imogene King developed the theory of goal attainment which focused on interacting systems that affected a person’s ability to attain goals (Frey, Sieloff, & Norris, 2002). Psychologist Laurence Kohlberg created the theory of stages of moral development which places moral reasoning and ethical behavior into six identifiable stages based on a person’s response to moral dilemmas (Kohlberg, 1984). Although King and Kohlberg created theories in different fields, nurses can utilize both to improve patient care. The purpose of this paper is to analyze both theories based on major precepts, usefulness, and application to nursing practice.