ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses Essay

The professional practise of nursing brings with it several daily, ethical dilemmas. This sometimes makes it hard for nurses to make ethical decisions and to help them do so, the American Nurses Association (ANA) has provided a code of ethics for guidance. Apart from ensuring that nurses make ethical decisions, the code helps improves their morale, makes their work less stressful, and augments the patients’ outcomes. Some of the issues addressed in the code of ethics pertain to the safety of patients, the promotion of the rights and dignity of patients, and the advancement of the nursing profession.  ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses Essay.

The Principles of the Nursing Code of Ethics

There are nine essential provisions in the ANA code of ethics. They ensure that nurses remain ethical in all their duties. Some of the provisions include;

1. Every human being has dignity, worth and unique attributes and the nurse is enjoined to practice her profession with compassion and respect for every person.
2. Whether an individual, a family, a group, community or population, the nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient is mandatory.
3. The basic rights, health and safety of the patient are what the nurse is enjoined to promote, advocate for, and protect at all times.
4.  The nurse is required to advance the profession through research and scholarly inquiry, professional standards development, and the generation of both nursing and health policy in all her roles and settings.

The most important issue for an aspiring nurse like me, among the above four essential elements of the ANA code of ethics, is the one pertaining to safety of patients. One has to be alert as a professional to the doctors’ instructions, understanding of the patient’s physical and mental condition,  the prescribed medications, their effects and side-effects and dosage timings, and the use of technologies that enhance patient safety, treatment, recovery and recuperation. While I am confident about being professional about the above aspects, being compassionate and respectful towards the feelings of both patient and his/her relatives is a tougher challenge. Further, given the busy schedule of a nurse, I have to be careful not to allow any accidents, infections, injuries, or clinical errors in dealing with each patient.

Today, nurses live in healthcare scenarios that are more holistic in terms of treatment procedures. The commitment and care towards the patient is primary and, in this context, I find it challenging to improve my communication skills with other nursing and clinical staff, the patients and their families. ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses Essay. Communication skills are critical because sometimes one is not just treating a single patient but may be dealing with many similar cases in a group scenario and yet each patient is unique in terms of their needs and assurances required. I have to constantly keep in mind that patients and their relatives also have both fundamental human and legal rights and that my services and communications must keep those rights in mind when dealing with them so that no offense is given. Respecting the worth and dignity of patients is also about respecting their legal rights and I am aware of the challenges in  respecting the patients’ right to autonomy, information about their treatment and medical condition and to make choices on their treatment and privacy.

Nursing is a hectic profession and I struggle with fulfilling the principle in the code of ethics that encourages me to advance my profession through research. I have been consistently trying to upgrade my knowledge base by keeping both mental and written notes about interesting cases and then referring to medical or nursing books or discussing these with peers so that I can gain a broader and deeper understanding of the profession and how it can be advanced. I propose to enrol myself in taking short courses that help me undertake research projects to harness knowledge and learn more about evidence-based practices to improve patient care. This learning will also help me develop nursing policies, along with peers, that can guide our practice.

The American Nursing Association’s code of ethics is a very useful starting point that enables nurses to  make ethical decisions that facilitate the provision of high-quality healthcare. I am interested in various ways the ANA code of nursing ethics is being interpreted in a variety of situations pertaining to how medical professionals can and must respect the rights and dignity of patients. Another emerging area I am interested in relates to how patients from different cultural backgrounds and belief systems can be looked after without their sensibilities being offended. Overall,  I find that the ANA ethical guidelines are a strong foundation for nurses to safeguard the patients’ right to safety and compassionate care and to improve healthcare through research.  ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses Essay.

The health care field is so broad with so many different fields that each profession has its own ethical codes and standards. The American Nursing Association (ANA) provides nurses with a code of ethics that we must all adhere by. “The Code of Ethics for Nurses was developed as a guide for carrying out nursing responsibilities in a manner consistent with quality in nursing care and the ethical obligations of the profession” (American Nursing Association [ANA], 2010) Three ethical concepts from our weekly reading that are shared in the ANA code of ethics are the right to self-determination also known as autonomy, confidentiality, and addressing impaired practice.

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The ANA states under provision one the right to self-determination which is also known as autonomy. Autonomy as mentioned in chapter one is defined as the philosophical basis for informed consent. It is not only an ethical necessity but a component of health care. The principle of autonomy states that one is not to treat a patient without informed consent directly from the patient or by their surrogate. As a nurse we have the obligation to be knowledgeable about the legal and moral rights of autonomy as well as protect and support the patient’s interests and wishes by assessing their comprehension of the information given to them as well as the implications of their decisions. “Competence, or capacity, in health care is the ability to make choices based on an understanding of the relevant consequences of that choice on one-self and others” (Garret, Ballie, McGeehan, & Garrett, 2010, p. 34) When a patient is signing an informed consent the “how” of the treatment is not ethically important, but the consequences of having or not having the treatment is the main factor. In the case that a patient is incompetent and unable to make a decision for themselves such as if the patient is in a coma or under the age of eighteen, a surrogate is appointed to make the legal decisions for the patient. Surrogates have the obligation to make decisions based on what the patient would have wanted or chosen and disregard the interest of others including themselves. During my rotation this semester in the hospital I encountered a patient who has end stage COPD. Along with his COPD he also has diabetes and requires insulin. Per the patient’s request he has denied any treatment except for his pain medication and respiratory therapy and refuses to have his insulin and eat whatever he wants. ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses Essay. As a nursing student I am knowledgeable that without his insulin he can have a spike in his glucose level, become more hyperglycemic, and lead to ketoacidosis which could be life threatening. As nurses we have chosen this field because we want to help people but in situations such as this, it is difficult to help a patient who does not want to be helped. In such a case all we can do as nurses is assist the patient and help him feel as comfortable as he can be. Each person has the right to autonomy and the right to refuse treatment knowing the consequences of their decision. As nurses we must respect each patient’s autonomy and the decisions that are made.

Under provision three from the ANA code of ethics confidentiality which is associated with the right to privacy is stated. As nurses we have an obligation to all patients to maintain their information confidential. The only situations where the patient’s information can be disclosed are with those members of the health care team with information such as the treatment and welfare and if the patient’s well-being and safety is in jeopardy. Ethically it is forbidden to disclose any information to a family member of a competent patient unless given permission from the patient. As nurses in the health care field our relationship and loyalty is first to the patient. The information of the prognosis or treatment is kept from the family due to that the disclosure of the disease may cause anxiety or cause devastation to the family member. Such is a case where a patient has been diagnosed with cancer and the patient does not want to cause sadness and anxiety to his/her family the nurse is obligated to not reveal any information about the diagnosis nor treatment. The ANA approved a limited ethical privilege to disclose probable exposure if the patient does not protect others from being infected with HIV or AIDS. In such situations where a male patient is diagnosed with HIV or AIDS and the wife is unaware of her husband’s disease and is having unprotected sex as well as a situation where the wife would be pregnant or trying to get pregnant. In these cases it is ethical to inform the wife because now not only does the patient have the disease the wife and child might be infected as well. As a nurse we must follow the standards of practice and keep patients information confidential unless given reason.ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses Essay.

Lastly under the ANA code of ethics, provision three also states the right of addressing impaired practice. As health care professionals we have the general obligation to avoid all evil as well as prevent evil from happening and meet the needs of the public. In the case that one witnesses repeated unethical violations of a patient’s rights it is in probable cause to denounce a fellow employee for the protection of the patient as well as to assure the impaired individual receive help in regaining optimal function. A chain of command should be used if a dangerous scenario should occur and one should first notify the supervisory personnel. As a nurse we should be advocate for our fellow colleagues whose job performance is impaired and help them receive appropriate treatment and access to a fair institutional and a legal process. We must show compassion and caring to those colleagues who are in recovery from an illness or when that illness interferes with their work performance.

The ANA nursing code of ethics provides a framework by which all nurses must follow. It is of high importance that all the provisions stated under the code be followed by all nurses in the clinical practice to provide equal care to all patients. The right to self-determination, confidentiality, and addressing impaired practice along with many other fall under the ANA Nursing code of ethics. These three factors so far have gone hand in hand with our weekly discussion board topics. They have lead to many interesting conversations with many different points of views, but at the end of the day there is an understanding amongst all that is clarified when reading the ethical meanings behind each topic in ANA code of ethics. ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses Essay.