Question

Explain how the profession of nursing incorporates ethics in nursing practice and the profession.

Short answer

Nurses incorporate ethics through a code of ethics, ethical patient care, decision-making, ongoing education, and reflection.

Step-by-step solution

Define Nursing Ethics

Nursing ethics refers to the moral principles that govern the conduct of nurses. It involves issues such as patient rights, informed consent, confidentiality, and the maintenance of professional boundaries.

Understand the Code of Ethics

Nurses are guided by a professional code of ethics, often outlined by organizations like the American Nurses Association (ANA). This code provides a framework for ethical decision-making and outlines nurses' responsibilities to patients and society.

Incorporate Ethics in Patient Care

Ethical practices in nursing care include advocating for patient rights, ensuring informed consent, protecting patient privacy, and delivering care without discrimination. Nurses must evaluate the moral implications of their actions continually.

Engage in Ethical Decision-Making

Nurses often face ethical dilemmas, such as end-of-life care decisions. They must weigh patients’ needs, family wishes, and clinical judgements, often resorting to ethical principles like autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice to reach a resolution.

Participate in Ethical Education and Reflection

Nurses engage in ongoing education on ethics to stay informed about evolving ethical standards and practices. Reflection on personal and clinical experiences helps them understand and apply ethical principles more effectively.

Key concepts

Patient Rights

Patient rights form a foundational aspect of nursing ethics, encompassing the entitlements and protections each patient should receive during medical care. These rights are vital in ensuring respectful and humane treatment of patients. They typically include:

• The right to respectful and considerate care, recognizing a patient's dignity regardless of their background.
• The right to privacy and confidentiality, which ensures that a patient's personal health information is protected and only shared with those directly involved in their care.
• The right to participate in their own care, allowing patients to be aware of and involved in the decisions regarding their treatment plans.
• The right to refuse treatment, where patients can decline any medical intervention they do not wish to partake in, given they understand the implications fully.
• The right to access information, ensuring patients can acquire their medical records and understand their health conditions.

These rights aim to empower patients and build trust between them and healthcare providers. It is the duty of nurses to advocate actively for these rights and to educate patients about them. Protecting and promoting these rights can significantly improve patient outcomes and satisfaction.

Informed Consent

Informed consent is a key component of ethical nursing practice, serving as a process that ensures patients are knowledgeable about and consenting to medical treatments or procedures. This process requires that patients:

• Receive detailed information about their diagnosis and the nature of the proposed interventions, including potential risks and benefits.
• Understand alternatives to the proposed treatment, including the right to refuse treatment.
• Have the opportunity to ask questions and receive comprehensible answers from healthcare providers.
• Are provided this information in a way that matches their cognitive understanding without overwhelming medical jargon.

Achieving true informed consent is about more than just acquiring a signature on a form. It involves continuous communication and respect for the patient's autonomy. Nurses play a crucial role in facilitating this process by ensuring that patients feel comfortable and informed in making healthcare decisions. Providing interpreters and educational resources as needed also forms a part of maintaining informed consent processes, particularly for patients with language barriers or low health literacy.

Ethical Decision-Making

Ethical decision-making is an integral part of nursing, characterized by resolving dilemmas that involve choosing between equally undesirable options. In the healthcare environment, this often relates to complex situations such as allocating scarce resources or making decisions about life-sustaining treatments. Nurses use ethical frameworks and principles, such as:

• **Autonomy**: respecting a patient's right to make their own decisions.
• **Beneficence**: the obligation to do good and to act in ways that benefit the patient.
• **Nonmaleficence**: the duty to not harm the patient.
• **Justice**: fairness in the distribution of resources and care.

In practice, ethical decision-making requires nurses to consistently reflect on their values and the moral implications of their actions. This is typically supported by discussion and consultation with colleagues, ethics committees, and continuing education on ethical standards and dilemmas. The ultimate goal is to make decisions that align with professional integrity and prioritize patient welfare in all circumstances.