Altruism And Humanism

Humanism denotes a concern for humanity in everyday practice. Humanism includes respect, empathy, compassion, honour and integrity. Respect refers to regard for another person. It is the personal commitment one make to honour other people’s choices regarding their medical care. By respecting their decision all information must be kept private and confidential and all procures carried out must be with the consent of the patient. To respect a person is also to respect their culture, age, ethnicity, and disability. This signals a sense of worth to all humans. This ensures women’s needs are prioritised which is section one of the code. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of other people, without developing an emotional attachment

This means that women and service-users are put first ensuring that self-interest does not influence actions or errors. This professional attribute links to the NMC code, altruism ensures that people are prioritised and safety is preserved. This also links to the 6C’s, as the principles altruism displays care and compassion for others. Competence is also key to altruism as being a competent midwife would enable the delivery of effective

Black (2002) defines “professional regulation as the attempt to alter the behavior of others according to defined standards or purposes with the intention of producing a broadly identified outcome, which may involve mechanisms of standard-setting, information-gathering and behaviour-modification.“ Midwives are regulated by the nursing and midwifery council which in 1902 were known as the central midwife board. This is to ensure that appropriate training and registration has been undertaken. This bans the unqualified practice of midwifery. The 1902 Midwives Act serves to recognise the professional status and regulation of midwives as autonomous practitioners in midwifery. The code 2015 helps to regulate midwives and the standards of practice. This influences professional behaviours of midwives it ensures that midwives promote professionalism, good communication, verbal and non-verbal. Regulation allows for a set standard to be practiced throughout the United Kingdom as all midwives work to the same level of care. This makes it easier to identify midwives who do not preserve safety and practice effectively. Other ways in which midwives are regulated include revalidation, and the standards of competence for registered midwives. Revalidation consists of undertaking 450 hours of practice within the last three years. Undertaking 35 hours of continuing