1 Ethics of Nursing n Ethics includes values

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Ethics of Nursing n Ethics includes values, codes, and principles that govern decisions in nursing practice and relationships n Nursing Ethics is the discipline of evaluating the merits, risks, and social concerns of activities in the field of nursing n Ethical principles are necessary to guide to professional development 2

Code of Ethics for Nursing Students Code of Academic and Clinical Conduct n 3 The code of Academic and Clinical conduct is based on an understanding that to practice nursing as a student is an agreement to uphold the trust with which society has placed in us

A CODE FOR NURSING STUDENTS n Advocate the rights of all clients n Maintain client confidentiality n Take appropriate action to ensure the safety of clients, self , and others n Provide care for the client in a timely, compassionate and professional manner 4

A CODE FOR NURSING STUDENTS n Communicate client care in a truthful n Promote excellence in nursing by encouraging lifelong learning and professional development 5

A CODE FOR NURSING STUDENTS n Treat others with respect and promote environment that respects human rights, values, an choice of cultural and spiritual beliefs n Collaborate in every reasonable manner with the academic faculty and clinical staff to ensure the highest quality of client care n Use every opportunity to improve faculty and clinical staff understanding of the learning needs of nursing students 6

A CODE FOR NURSING STUDENTS n Encourage faculty, clinical staff, and peers to mentor nursing students n Refrain from performing any technique or procedure for which the student has not been adequately trained n Refrain from any deliberate action or omission of care in the academic or clinical setting that creates unnecessary risk of injury to client, self or others 7

A CODE FOR NURSING STUDENTS n Assist in ensuring that there is full disclosure and that consent is obtained from clients regarding any form of treatment or research n Abstain from the use of alcoholic beverages or any substances in the academic and clinical setting that impair judgment 8

Principles of Health Care Ethics n Beneficence: means doing or promoting good in such a manner as to safeguard and promote the interest and well being of patients and clients n Nonmaleficence means to avoid doing harm, to remove from harm, and to prevent harm n 9 Harm can be physical and so include pain, disability, discomfort and death but it can also be psychological and thus include mental stress

Principles of Health Care Ethics n Autonomy and consent: Principles of self determination n The cardinal principles of autonomy n n n 10 The right to full disclosure- the right to know The right to privacy The right to receive care and treatment

Principles of Health Care Ethics n Justice: The principle of fairness is the basis for the obligation to treat all clients equally and fairly n Veracity: telling the truth. Clients prefer to receive accurate information about their conditions and prognosis even when the outlook is bleak 11

Principles of Health Care Ethics n Privacy: n To ensure that the patient’s body is appropriate covered n 12 To establish a culture of privacy to ensure that personal information of patients is kept as private as possible

Principles of Health Care Ethics n Confidentiality 13 n To preserving the human dignity of patients n Discussing clients outside the clinical setting, telling friends or family about clients, or even discussing clients in the elevator with other workers violates client confidentiality and must be a voided

Principles of Health Care Ethics n Responsibility: A nurse, who neglects to give a patient pain relief can be said to have caused that patient harm n Proving negligence (i. e. that the nurse is legally responsible) n It is not only human beings who can cause something to happen, since conditions (e. g. staff shortages, poor equipment, inadequate resources, and so forth) may also cause accidents or result in a patient being injured 14

Principles of Health Care Ethics n Accountability 15 n Is about justifying actions, explaining why something was (or was not) done n The purpose of calling people to account for their actions is therefore to establish whether they had good enough reasons for acting in the way they did

Principles of Health Care Ethics n FIDELITY n 16 The professional´s faithfulness or loyalty to agreements & responsibilities accepted as part of the practice of the profession

Be competent in your practice n The nurses are always responsible for their behaviours n Has to refuse to perform procedures for which they haven´t been prepared n Ignorance isn’t a legal defence. Neither will lack of sleep or overwork be accepted as a legal reason for carelessness about safety measures or mistakes 17

The ICN- Code of Ethics for Nurses (2006) n Nurses have four fundamental responsibilities: n n 18 To promote health To prevent illness To restore health To alleviate suffering

The ICN Code of Ethics q 19 Nursing care is respectful of and unrestricted by considerations of age, color, creed, culture, disability or illness, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, politics, race or social status

NURSES AND PEOPLE n The nurse shares with society the responsibility for initiating and supporting action to meet the health and social needs of the public, in particular those of vulnerable populations n The nurse also shares responsibility to sustain and protect the natural environment from depletion, pollution, degradation and destruction 20

NURSES AND THE PROFESSION n The nurse is active in developing a core of research-based professional knowledge n The nurse, acting through the professional organization, participates in creating and maintaining safe, equitable social and economic working conditions in nursing 21

Future Implications n Scientific research over the past two decades has resulted in rapidly developing technology, greatly altering health care and medical and nursing practice n Research has forced health care providers to address such issues as: n n n 22 Who should receive the benefits of technology What are the long-term results of life-supporting and life-extending procedures What kind of future generations we are preparing

Future Implications n Having addressed these issues, can we say that our decisions are ethical? n What will be the ultimate cost in consumer health? n What will be the actual cost to society? n Where do nursing responsibilities lie? 23

Future Implications n To ensure the best possible consumer health care in the future, physicians and nurses will have to forge a closer, more collegial relationship n Such a relationship will demand a high order of ethical and professional obligation 24

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