Professional Nursing Ethics

The ethics of professional nursing center on the care of the patient. The nurse, in ethical practice, develops a relationship with the patient. This practice complements the ethics and subsequent actions of the physicians, whose ethics focus on the treatment of the illness or condition of the patient, according to Joyce and Henry Thompson in "Professional Ethics in Nursing." Because the nurse works with the health-care team, headed by the physician, as well as the patient, nursing ethics must contain a dynamic element.

History

• The American Nurses Association (ANA), along with many other health-care organizations, accepts the "Nightingale Pledge" as the foundation for modern professional nursing ethics. Lystra E. Gretter, along with a Committee for the Farrand Training School for Nurses, composed the pledge in 1893 in honor of the nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale (1820-1910).Gretter based the pledge loosely on the "Hippocratic Oath," taken by physicians. Nursing schools readily adopted the pledge, and students entering the field of professional nursing recited it. The pledge contains four promises pertaining to various aspects of the nurse's life: to live a pure life and practice faithfully, not to administer harmful drugs, to maintain and elevate the profession and to aid the physician and be devoted the care of the patient. Over the years, the traditional recitation of the pledge has lost some of its prominence, but the pledge remains a treasured piece of nursing history.

Identification

• Today, ANA follows an expanded "Code of Ethics," which contains nine recognized articles as of 2010. Foundational to these articles are the dignity and care of the patient and the promotion and improvement of health care. According to ANA, the "code" has three major purposes: It provides a succinct statement of the ethical obligations and duties of every individual who enters the nursing profession, the profession's nonnegotiable ethical standard and an expression of nursing's own understanding of its commitment to society.

Features

• In "Advanced Practice Nursing," Mariah Snyder and Michaelene Mirr state that professional nursing practice centers on four cornerstone ethical principles: autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence and justice. According to Joanne Hickey, Ruth Oimette,and Sandra Vengomi in "Advanced Practice Nursing," these ethical principles can include advocacy, loyalty, care/caring, compassion and human dignity. These ethical principles represent practical, professionally applicable expansions on the ANA "code."

Function

• In professional nursing practice, a consciously chosen ethical framework, appropriately applied, may facilitate the effectiveness of the nurse and other health-care staff, by providing an assistant "template" for data gathering that supports "reflective thinking," according to Snyder and Mirr. Ethical frameworks assist the nurse in decision making and facilitate the identification of multiple, often conflicting issues.

Benefits

• A well-defined ethical framework can assist the nurse in a relationship with the patient. Nurses must maintain a philosophy of care that includes ethical and moral principles as well as caring behaviors, according to Hickey, Oimette and Venegomi. Ethical frameworks help the nurse reconcile legal and ethical demands with care and compassion for the patient.