Nurse Insights: How Do Nurses Approach Ethical Decision-Making?
Ethical decision-making is a crucial aspect of nursing practice. Nurses must navigate complex situations that require balancing the well-being of their patients with their own values and beliefs. In this article, we will explore how nurses approach ethical decision-making, including the guidelines provided by the Code of Ethics for Nurses and the application of the four main ethical principles in daily nursing practice.
How Do Nurses Approach Ethical Decision-Making?
In our Nurse Insights series, experienced nurses offer an insider’s perspective on the nursing profession by addressing common questions, challenges, and triumphs of their careers.
Understanding the Code of Ethics for Nurses
The American Nurses Association (ANA) developed the Code of Ethics for Nurses to provide a standardized set of guidelines for ethical behavior in nursing practice. This Code of Ethics consists of nine provisions and outlines the values, duties, and responsibilities that are inherent to the nursing profession.
Provision 1: Respect for All Individuals
The Code states that you should respect the inherent dignity, worth, and unique attributes of every person, regardless of their health status, race, age, or any other factors. This provision reminds you that every patient deserves respect and good care.
Provision 2: Commitment to the Patient
This provision emphasizes nurses’ primary commitment to the patient, whether it be an individual, family, group, community, or population. It reinforces the importance of loyalty and advocating for the patient’s well-being and safety.
Provision 3: Advocate for and Protect the Rights of the Patient
This provision underscores the importance of advocating for the rights, health, and safety of the patient. You’re expected to safeguard the patient’s privacy and keep them informed about their health situation.
Provision 4: Responsibility and Accountability
This provision highlights your responsibility for individual nursing practice and the requirement to maintain competence. It’s your duty to continually enhance your professional knowledge and skills for the best patient outcomes.
Provision 5: Duty to Provide Optimal Levels of Health Care
As a nurse, you should promote, advocate for, and protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient. This provision includes a mandate for maintaining personal health to ensure the ability to provide optimal care.
Provision 6: Improves Ethical Environment
The Code states that you should establish, maintain, and improve the ethical environment of the work setting to provide safe, quality healthcare.
Provision 7: Advance the Nursing Profession
Provision 7 dictates that you shall advance the nursing profession through research and scholarly inquiry, professional standards development, and the initiation of both nursing and health policy.
Provision 8: Collaboration With Other Health Professionals
You shall collaborate with other health professionals and the public to protect human rights, promote health diplomacy, and reduce health disparities.
Provision 9: Maintain the Integrity of the Profession
Through professional organizations, the nursing profession must articulate nursing values, maintain the integrity of the profession, and integrate principles of social justice into nursing and health policy.
Following the Code of Ethics in nursing will guide you in making sound decisions in difficult situations. It is an important reference point when dealing with ethical issues, patient rights, and advocacy.
By adhering to these principles, you uphold the integrity of the nursing profession, set an example for other health professionals, and, more importantly, provide the best care for your patients.
