The Canadian Nurses Association’s Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses plays a key role in the life of many individuals in healthcare, whether it is the physician, the nurse, the patient, or other workers in the healthcare environment. The Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses serves as a guide in performing nursing responsibilities as well as the ethical obligations related to the profession, (Canadian Nurses Association, 2008). The purpose of this paper is to recognize the Code of Ethics and how it impacts the way in which healthcare workers carry out their practice. This can be examined through three key factors. The first factor involves providing safe, compassionate, competent care. The second factor regards helping nurses to be accountable
Thompson, I. E., Melia, K. M., & Boyd, K. M. (2006). Nursing Ethics: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier.
The demands on health care providers to provide the best quality care for patients is increasing. With added responsibilities and demands on our health care workers, it is hard not become overwhelmed and forget the reason and purpose of our profession. However, there is a way where all professionals can meet and come together for a common cause, which is the patient. A new approach in patient care is coming of age. This approach allows all health care professionals to collaborate and explore the roles of other professions in the hope of creating a successful health care team. This approach is referred to as the Interprofessional Collaboration Practice (IPC). To become an effective leader and follower, each professions will need to work together
The term nursing ethics means that the nurse has an obligation judge what is right and wrong in her or his duties as guided by the profession or the moral principles that govern the profession and as prescribed by the professional body. Nursing ethics initially encompassed virtues that were desired in a nurse. At the time, these virtues included physician loyalty, commitment to high moral character and obedience. Evolvement of nursing profession gradually made nurses embrace patients’ advocacy. As patient advocates, nurses work as part of an interdisciplinary team to provide patient care. Nursing ethics have kept pace with the advancement of the nursing profession to include a patient-centered focus, rather than a physician-centered focus.
The code of ethics are ethical obligations and duties for every person whom may decide to become a nurse. To practice competently and with integrity, nurses of today must have key elements in place which will guide the profession. Key elements would include licensure, certification, and education and a relevant code of ethics (ANA, 2015). This paper will discuss the Code of Ethics Provisions five through nine.
Collaboration is an effort of multiple members of a healthcare team to achieve a desired outcome. It is partitive that in healthcare the goal of the patient is centered around the patient needs. Here should be open dialogue and shared decision making amongst all members of the healthcare team and the patient (Davis, 2010). Professional boundaries are the intimate nature of nursing and often present challenges as nurse’s share problems and difficulties with patients that can be quite stressful (ANA, 2010). When the nurse finds that professional boundaries are becoming endangered the nurse should seek assistance from peers or supervisors or seek to remove themselves from the situation (Olin,
Rich, K. L. (2008a). Introduction to ethical philosophy, theories, and approaches. In J. B. Butts & K. L. Rich (Eds.), Nursing ethics across the curriculum and into practice (2nd ed., pp. 21-24). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.
By establishing a code of ethics the nursing profession provides a framework for judgment calls dealing with these difficult situations. This set of moral principals sets a standard for thinking through ethical problems, which ultimately helps nurses settle these types of issues. These ethical nursing dilemmas usually arise from disagreements in personal values and social issues that regard the decisions or beliefs of patients. The objective is to come to a common understanding which upholds the best interest of the patient while reinforcing the personal values of the healthcare professional.
Today's healthcare environment is increasingly complex, as issues compete for importance. As a consequence of this, nurses frequently face ethical dilemmas. In deciding the best course of action in such dilemmas, nurses can look for guidance to professional standards of conduct, such as those enumerated in the Code of Ethics of the American Nursing Association (ANA). According to Mahlmeister (1996), each nurse should own a copy of the ANA code, as this document can provide guidance on situations that nurses face on an almost daily basis.
As mentioned by the Cherry and Jacob (2014), “nursing ethics is a system of principles concerning the actions of the nurse in his or her relationship with patients, patients’ family members, other health care providers, policymakers, and society as a whole”
The practice of using inter-professional teams in delivering care is not a new concept but current health policy requires professionals work within a multidisciplinary team Department of Health (2001) and entrenched in the Nursing and Midwifery Council (2008) Code. The principle focus of this essay is to discuss the importance of inter-professional collaboration in delivering effective health care and what challenges and constraints exist. The integration of a case study will give an insight into inter-professional collaboration in practice.
Working in the health care setting, teamwork and collaboration are used frequently to insure that everything runs correctly and efficiently. According to qsen.org, teamwork and collaboration consists of functioning effectively within nursing and inter-professional teams, fostering open communication, mutual respect, and shared decision-making to achieve quality patient care. While assessing the patient a nurse can come into contact and work with many different individuals. These can include other nurses, doctors, therapists, and family
Burkhardt, M. A., & Nathaniel, A. K. (2014). Ethics & issues in contemporary nursing (4th ed.). Stephan Helbra.
rofessionals from different disciplines collaborating to provide care to patients. Effectively coordinated and collaborative inter-professional teams are essential to the care and treatment of patients (Rowlands & Callen, 2013; Doyle, 2008; Ruhstaller, Roe, Thürlimann & Nicoll, 2006; Simpson & Patton, 2012, p. 300). Communication is a process of conferring information between individuals through use of speech, writing or various other means, and is critical to the success of a multidisciplinary team (MDT) (Higgs, McAllister & Sefton, 2012, p. 5; Rowlands & Callen, 2013; Sargeant, Loney & Murphy, 2008). An MDT must use multiple strategies to enhance communication and ensure their success (Doyle, 2008). An effective MDT generates opportunities that benefit healthcare, which is the reason for the recent dominance of inter-professional care in health practice (Simpson & Patton, 2012, p. 300; Rowlands & Callen, 2013). Many barriers prevent effective communication within inter-professional teams. Lack of communication within MDTs presents challenges to their success, leading to numerous consequences, including the failure of the MDT (London Deanery, 2012; Sargeant et al, 2008). Communication between professionals is the key factor underpinning the potential success or failure of inter-professional teams, the outcome of the functioning of MDTs will either benefit or impair care of patients.
Winland-Brown, J. L. (2015). The New "Code of Ethics for Nursing With Interpretive Statements". Practical Clinical Applications Part I. MEDSURG Nursing 24(4),