Code A code may be defined as conventionalized
set of rules or expectations devised for a specific
purpose.
Ethics-Word ethics is derived from the word Ethos.
It is a Greek word and means as customs, character or
conduct.
Ethics is the branch of philosophy that examines the
difference between right and wrong.
* A specific set of professional behaviors and
values the professional interpreter must know
and must abide by, including confidentiality,
accuracy, privacy, integrity.
*Acknowledges
the rightful place of Individuals in
health care delivery system.
*Contributes
towards empowerment of individuals
to become responsible for their health and wellbeing.
*Contributes to quality care.
*Identifies obligations in practice,
research and
relationships.
*Informs
the individuals, families, community and
other professionals about expectations of a nurse .
* To
inform both the nurse and the society of the
minimum standard for professional conduct.
* It
provides regulatory bodies a basis for decisions
regarding standards of professional conduct.
* Protect
the rights of individuals, families
community and also the rights of the Nurse.
and
*autonomy
*beneficence
*non-maleficence
*justice
* Respect a persons right to make their own decisions
* Teach people to be able to make their own choices
* Support people in their individual choices
* Do not force or coerce people to do things
* Informed Consent is an important outcome of this principle
Our actions must aim to benefit people health, welfare, comfort, wellbeing, improve a persons potential, improve quality of life
Benefit should be defined by the person themselves. Its not what we think
that is important.
Act on behalf of vulnerable people to protect their rights
Prevent harm
Create a safe and supportive environment
Help people in crises
*do not to inflict harm on people
*do not cause pain or suffering
*do not incapacitate
*do not cause offence
*do not deprive people
*do not kill
*Both Beneficence and Non-maleficence underpin
EBP
*Treating people fairly
*Not favouring some individuals/groups over others
*Acting in a nondiscriminatory / non-prejudicial way
*Respect for peoples rights
*Respect for the law
Distributive Justice sharing the scarce resources in society in a fair and
just manner (e.g. health services, professional time)
How should we share out healthcare resources?
How do we share out our time with patients?
Deciding how to do this raises some difficult questions
Patients should get..
an equal share ?
just enough to meet their needs ?
what they deserve ?
what they can pay for ?
*Veracity truth telling, informed consent, respect for
autonomy
*Privacy a persons right to remain private, to not
disclose information
*Confidentiality only sharing private information on a
need to know basis
*Fidelity loyalty, maintaining the duty to care for all no
matter who they are or what they may have done
*1) consequentialism taking the
consequences of our actions into
consideration
*2) deontology basing our actions on a set of
principles or duties
*Actions are right or wrong according to the
balance of their good and bad
consequences
*the right act is the one that produces the
best overall result
*Utilitarianism (what action has the greatest
utility - use/benefit/positive outcome) is a
type of consequentialism
*most prominent consequence-based
theory
*based on the principle of utility
*actions ought to produce the
maximal balance of positive value
(e.g. happiness) over disvalue (e.g.
harm)
Duty or principle based theory
An act is right if it conforms to an overriding
moral duty
For example do not tell lies, do not kill.
A moral duty or principle is one that is:
laid down by god / supremely rational
being
or is in accordance with reason /
rationality
or would be agreed by all rational beings
1) The nurse, in all professional
relationships, practice with
compassion and respect for the
inherent dignity, worth, and
uniqueness of every individual,
unrestricted by considerations
of social or economic status,
personal attributes, or the
nature of health problems
2) The nurses primary
commitment is to the patient,
whether an individual, family,
group, or community.
3) The nurse promotes,
advocates for, and strives to
protect the health, safety, and
rights of the patient.
4) The nurse is responsible and
accountable for individual
nursing practice and determines
the appropriate delegation of
tasks consistent with the nurses
obligation to provide optimum
patient care.
5) The nurse owes the same
duties to self as to others,
including the responsibility to
preserve integrity and safety, to
maintain competence, and to
continue personal and
professional growth.
6) The nurse participates in
establishing, maintaining, and
improving health care
environments and conditions of
employment conducive to the
provision of quality health care
and consistent with the values of
the profession through individual
and collective action.
7) The nurse participates in the
advancement of the profession
through contributions to
practice, education,
administration, and knowledge
development.
8) The nurse collaborates with
other health professionals and
the public in promoting
community, national, and
international efforts to meet
health needs.
9) The profession of nursing,
as represented by
associations and their
members, is responsible for
articulating nursing values,
for maintaining the integrity
of the profession and its
practice, and for shaping
social policy.
a nurse working in a psychiatric care
unit in treating teenage patients with
anorexia nervosa. She is particularly
concerned about the treatment
program for a 16-year-old female
with a long history of emotional
problems, beginning at age 6.
*The units treatment plan centers on a
reward and punishment system for eating
behaviors that result in weight gain.
*Patient is closely watched at all times
(even when in the bathrooms), and their
eating and physical activities are closely
monitored.
*Privileges, such as watching TV, wearing
favorite clothes are withdrawn from
patient if the patient does not gain
weight.
* This case is ethically interesting because the nurse
recognizes and supports the patients right to
determine his or her own weight. The nurse is to
respect these rights.
* Ethical standards for the nursing profession
indicate that patients have moral rights
* to determine what will be done with their own
person; to accept, refuse,
* or terminate treatment without deceit, undue
influence, duress, coercion, or penalty.
*The overriding moral principle is the
principle of beneficence, a commitment to
do what is in the patients interest.
* Nurse of an 80-bed nursing home facility in an urban setting,
has just learned that a bill has been introduced in the state
legislature to allow medications to be given by unlicensed
personnel in nursing homes throughout the state.
* Medication administration provides the best opportunity for the
qualified nurse to assess the overall health status of the elderly
person. concern is that the nursing profession should have the
authority to set the norms for nursing practice, in this case
giving the health and safety of patients priority over the cost
saving that seems to get priority in the legislatures plan.
*code shows that to
identify the most
important ethical
principle: protecting
the health, well-being,
and safety of patients
