Ethical Principles Of Nurse-Patient Communication

There are four ethical principles that can be applied to issues surrounding nurse-patient communication. These ethical principles include Autonomy, Beneficence, nonmaleficence, and Justice. In communication, these principles are important when communicating between the nurse and the patient. Without the principles, ethical issues could result which could be damaging to the nurse-patient relationship as well as result in legal ramifications. Nurses must understand each of these principles when communicating with a patient. Autonomy is a principle that allows a patient or authorizing agent to make decisions regarding healthcare decisions without any outside influence (Burkhardt & Nathanial, 2014, p.440) As the nurse, it is important to understand

The nurse should understand the patient’s health situation and provide care that will best suit the patient’s situation. This could include allowing the patient to express his or her feelings about anything and the nurse just lending an ear and being there for the patient. Nonmaleficence is an ethical principle that aims to avoid doing harm to the patient (Burkhardt & Nathanial, 2014, p.439). This principle allows a nurse to act to avoid harm or further harm to the patient. When applying this principle, the nurse may refuse or delay a discharge of an elderly patient whose house is inaccessible for the patient’s current health condition. If the nurse allows for the discharge while knowing that the patient cannot climb stairs, the nurse could be putting the patient in harm’s way. Therefore, it is the nurse’s ethical responsibility to avoid further harm to the

I have explained three of the seven principles that I use while interacting with my patients daily. The three methods of communication were defined and explained how each is used in the healthcare setting. The communication method that works best on my unit was explained per my unit’s preference. The four-ethical principle regarding communication were explained along with how these principles and team communication affect patient safety. Overall, this paper has demonstrated why communication is important in the health care