Code of Ethics Essay

Summary of Code of Ethics

In Code of Ethics 3, the nurse promotes, advocates for, and strives to protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient. This standard means that no matter what the patient is going through, or what the patient has done the nurse is responsible to become the patients advocate. Some patients are unable to fight for themselves, therefore as a nurse one is accountable to become the patient’s voice, and fight for what the nurse deems to be in the patient’s best interest (Butts & Rich, 2008). The nurse’s role is to insure the confidentiality of the patient’s privacy. The large majority of electronic data can be accessed these days and it is very crucial that the nurse keep the patient’s information private. The nurse must perform checks in order to prevent making any medical errors that may harm the patient. In regards to harming the patient, the nurse should be aware of the competency of all the co-workers who are taking care of their patient. Since the nurse is accountable for the patient, the nurse must protect the patient by make sure everyone is competent in performing their assigned tasks. The nurse’s role is to do what is best for the client by ensuring that the client’s needs are met and that the client’s rights are protected with the utmost professionalism (Cherry & Jacob, 2011).

Application of Code of Ethics In order to provide the patient with the best optimal care, a nurse needs to follow the code of ethics by applying them in her daily care. With this particular code of ethics, the nurse would be responsible to provide patient privacy when speaking with the patient. The nurse would also need to ensure the patient’s confidentiality by monitoring conversations as not to allow others to overhear the patient-nurse conversation. It is also essential that the nurse keep the patient’s chart/data away from the visibility of anyone that is not assigned to the patient. When wanting to educate the patient the nurse must have the patient’s attention. If the patient is in excruciating pain then they are not willing to pay attention to anything the nurse would be saying. By educating the patient once the nurse has determined that they have the patient’s attention, they can be assured that the patient has understood the knowledge of keeping himself/herself safe and that the patient will know what to do with their medication or signs and symptoms of complications (Butts & Rich, 2008).
The nurse should protect the patient by being the patient’s advocate. If the nurse suspects that another co-worker or employee is doing something that wouldn’t be beneficial for the patient, then the nurse should talk to the person in charge. If the nurse feels the patient’s best interests are still being neglected then the patient escalate the issue in order to get the issue resolved. If the nurse suspects anyone is doing anything unethical in regards to their patient, it’s the nurse’s responsibility to report it. By doing this the nurse is able to fight for what is right for any patient and is able to follow this code of ethics (Cherry & Jacob, 2011). In the article I have found, the authors had come to a conclusion that when a nurse is unable to get anyone’s attention on how the patient has been receiving poor care. Then one should start making a list of situations, the times they have occurred, the names of the people, and continue to do this until reliable evidence has been kept. With this the nurse is then able to approach whoever is in charge, with evidence that could prove the lack of competence, and neglect for the patient (Brice, 1999).

Co-Worker Interview
Working as a scribe in the ER, I had a chance to ask a nurse about the code of ethics. I told her that I would like to see what this particular code of ethics meant to her. When I had stated the code of ethic to her and then asked her what it meant she said, “As a nurse, I feel that we need to promote health and safety, not only to

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