Ethical codes and principles: the link to nursing theory.

Abstract

Professional nurses are increasingly encountering ethical dilemmas whereby they must choose the right thing to do in nurse-nurse, nurse-person, and nurse-other situations. What is the role of nurses as they respond to an increasingly complex, medical-dominated, technological healthcare system? How do nurses employ the Code for Nurses and other standards of practice? How should these statements and documents be used? Managed care and healthcare systems are important settings in which professional nurses practice. More important, the purpose of the discipline of nursing is to be present and bear witness to the healthcare recipients’ choices. The essence of nursing is the nurse-person relationship. It is through this relationship and the ethical questions that surface that professional nurses journey with healthcare recipients in living health and quality of life. Ethical codes and principles must be viewed through the discipline’s theoretical perspectives, where nurses bear witness to others’ethical dilemmas of what to do and demonstrate straight thinking (ethos) in living health. In presenting the philosophical and ethical implications of her theory of goal attainment, Imogene M. King has proposed that nurses must be aware of and understand norms that deal with standards of human behavior for all persons in healthcare systems. She emphasizes that the American Nurses Association (ANA) Code for Nurses (1985) and Standards of Clinical Nursing Practice(1998) provide the foundation for ethical decision making in nursing situations. The ANA (1985, pp. 1-6) code for nurses, first developed in 1950 and updated since then, is as follows: 1.The nurse provides services with respect for human dignity and the uniqueness of the client unrestricted by considerations of social or economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of the health problems. 2.The nurse safeguards the client’s right to privacy by judi ciously protecting information of a confidential nature. 3.The nurse acts to safeguard the client and the public when healthcare and safety are affected by the incompetent, unethical, and illegal practice of any person. 4.The nurse assumes responsibility and accountability for individual nursing judgments and actions. 5.The nurse maintains competence in nursing. 6.The nurse exercises informed judgment and uses individual competence and qualifications as criteria in seeking consulta tion, accepting responsibilities, and delegating nursing activi ties to others. 7.The nurse participates in activities that contribute to the ongo ing development of the profession’s body of knowledge. 8.The nurse participates in the profession’s efforts to implement and improve standards of nursing. 9.The nurse participates in the profession’s efforts to establish and maintain conditions of employment conducive to highquality nursing care. 10.The nurse participates in the profession’s efforts to protect the public from misinformation and misrepresentation and to maintain the integrity of nursing. 11.The nurse collaborates with members of the health professions and other citizens in promoting community and national efforts to meet health needs of the public.