Nursing Code Of Ethics

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There are many nursing organizations that support the nursing profession, one of them a most established professional organization is the American Nurses Association (ANA). ANA represents all of the Registered Nurses (RNs) in the United States (Finkelmen and kenner 2016 pg 22). In the past, nurses used Florence Nightingales’ pledge as a code of ethics which state “I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity and practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession, and will hold in confidence all …show more content…
To reflect on the contemporary issues in health care the ANA has composed a code of ethics that should be used as a framework for excellent nursing care.
The ANA’s guide of Ethics for Nurses with interpretive statements (Fowler, 2015) outlined the nursing code of ethics into nine provisions. The nine provisions have been through a lot of reconstructions in order to remain current. However, the provision that will be emphasized on throughout this paper is provision 8 which states “The nurse collaborates with other health professionals and the public to protect human rights, promote health diplomacy, and reduce health disparities” (Fowler ,2015). This provision describes all aspects of nurse’s work with the public, patient’s family and other healthcare professionals in order to meet the health care needs of the patient. Nurses must continuously make decisions that are focused on the universal right of a patient and community. The nurse has the responsibility to be aware of specific needs of both patient, and community broader health concerns such as environmental pollution, of access to health care, violation of human right and health care, inequitable distribution of nursing and health resources (ANA, 2001 pg23) . It indicates the importance of nurses working together during patents care. Nurses are continuously coordinating their care plans amongst fellow nurses, doctors, parents and families. Each member of this team has a shared goal which is the elevation or maintenance of patients health (Fowler ,