This document presents information on ethics and nursing codes of ethics. It defines key terms like ethics, morality, codes of conduct. It discusses the International Council of Nurses Code which outlines nurses' responsibilities to promote health, prevent illness, restore health, and alleviate suffering. The code also covers principles like beneficence, autonomy, and confidentiality. The document addresses origins of ethical issues like technology changes and conflicting loyalties. Specific legal/ethical issues are negligence, informed consent, and issues around HIV/AIDS, abortion, and end-of-life care. Nurses are advised to refer to codes of conduct when addressing practice problems.

1. 1
PRESNTED BY:
MR. PATEH SAHO
CHIEF MATRON’S OFFICE
EFSTH
SEPTEMBER , 2013

2. Presentation Outline
 Definition of terms and related concepts
 Purpose
 ICN-Elements of the code
 Origins of Ethical Problems in Nursing
 Specific Legal and Ethical Issues
2

3. Morality and Ethics
Ethics
 A method of inquiry that helps people to understand the
morality of human behavior (the study of morality)
 Or
 Is the branch of philosophy the seeks to determine how
human actions may be judged right or wrong.
 The practice and beliefs of certain groups(medical/nursing
ethics)
 The expected standards of moral behavior of a particular
group as described in the group’s formal code of professional
ethics
3

4. Related Concepts
 Bioethics is ethics as applied to human life or health.eg
abortion
 Nursing ethics, refers to the ethical issues that occurs in
nursing practice
 Moral: refers to private, personal standards of what is
right and wrong in conduct, character, and attitude.
 Moral development, is the process of learning to tell the
difference between right and wrong
4

5. A Code of ethics is a formal statement of a group ideals and
values. It is a set of principles that:
 Is shared by members of the group
 Reflects their moral judgment overtime
 Serves as standard for their professional action
 Codes of ethics usually have higher requirements than
legal standards and they are never lower than legal
standards of the profession for the simple reason; law is
largely concerned with public goods and protection of
individual rights, whilst ethics goes beyond this, to look at
the obligation of individuals to themselves as well as to
others and to society.
5

6.  ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
 Beneficence, a commitment to promoting the client wellbeing or doing good
 Autonomy; respect for the client’s right to be self governing or right to make ones
own decision.
 Non-malificence; a commitment to avoid harm to the client or duty to do no harm.
 Principles direct attention to important ethical responsibilities and each is described
briefly below;
 Justice, referred to as the fair and impartial treatment of all clients and the provision
of adequate services.
 Fidelity, being faithful to agreements and promise or honoring the trust placed in the
practitioner.
 Self respect; fostering the practitioner’s self knowledge and care for self.
6

7. PERSONAL MORAL QUALITIES
 EMPATHY: The ability to communicate understanding of
another person’s experience from that person’s perspective.
 SINCERITY: a person’s commitment to consistency between
what is professed and what is done
 INTEGRITY: Commitment to being moral in dealing with others
personal straightforwardness, honesty and coherence.
 RESILIENCE: The capacity to work with the client’s concern
without being personally diminished.
 RESPECT: Showing appropriate esteem to others and their
understanding of themselves.
 HUMILITY: The ability to assess accurately and acknowledge of
ones own strengths and weaknesses.
 WISDOM: Possession of sound judgment that inform practice.
 COURAGE: The capacity to act in spite of known fears, risks and
uncertainties.
7

8. Purpose
Inform the public about the minimum standards of
the profession and help them understand professional
nursing conduct
Provide a sign of the profession’s commitment to the
public it serves
Outline the major ethical considerations of the
profession
8

9. Provide ethical standards for professional behavior
Guide the profession in self-regulation
Remind nurses of the special responsibility they
assume when caring for the sick
9

10. International Council of Nurses Code of
Ethics (the ICN Code)
 Preamble
1. Nurses have four fundamental responsibilities,
 To promote health
 To Prevent illness
 To restore health
 To alleviate suffering
10

11. 2. Inherent in nursing is respect for human rights,
including cultural rights, the right to life and choice, to
dignity and to be treated with respect.
Nursing care is respect of and unrestricted by
considerations of age, colour, creed, culture, disability or
illness, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, politics,
race or social status.
11

12. Elements of the Code
Nurses and People
1. The nurse’s primary professional responsibility is to the
people requiring Nursing care.
2. Make the care of people your first concern, treating them
as individuals and respecting their dignity.
3. In providing that care, the nurse promotes an
environment in which the human rights, values, customs
and spiritual beliefs of the individual, family and
community are respected.
12

13.  The nurse holds in confidence personal information
and uses judgment in sharing this information.
 The nurse shares with society the responsibility for
initiating and supporting action to meet the health
and social needs of the public, in particular those of
the vulnerable populations.
 The nurse ensures that the individual receives
sufficient information on which to base consent for
care and related treatment

13

14. Nurses and Practice
1. The nurse maintains a standard of personal health such
that the ability to provide care is not compromised.
2. The nurse uses judgment regarding individual
competence when accepting and delegating
responsibility.
3. The nurse at all times maintains standards of personal
conduct which reflect well on the profession and enhance
public confidence.
4. The nurse in providing care ensures that use of
technology and scientific advances are compatible with
Safety, dignity and rights of people 14

15.  The nurse carries personal responsibility and
accountability for nursing practice, and for
maintaining competence by continual learning.
15

16. Nurses and the Profession
1. The nurse assumes the major role in determining and
implementing acceptable standards of clinical nursing
practice, management, research and education
2. The nurse is active in developing a core of research-based
professional knowledge.
3. The nurse, acting through the professional organization,
participates in creating and maintaining safe, equitable
social and economic working conditions in nursing
16

17. Nurses and Co-workers
 The nurse sustains a co-operative relationship with co-
workers in nursing and other fields.
 The nurse takes appropriate action to safeguard
individuals, families and communities when their
health is endangered by a co-worker or any other
person.
17

18. Origins of Ethical Problems in
Nursing
Social and Technological Changes
Social changes such as women movement and growing
consumerism
People without health insurance (America)
Technology creates new issues that did not exist before.
The use of monitors, respirators, organ transplantation,
cloning
18

19. Origins of Ethical Problems in
Nursing
Conflicting loyalties and obligation
These results from obligation to client, families, primary
providers, employing institutions, and licensing bodies.
According to the nursing code of ethics, the nurse
primary obligation is the client. But what if client
preferences going against institutional policies, state laws?
19

20. Specific Legal and Ethical Issues
 The legal implication of nursing practice are tied to licensure state
laws, scope of practice and public expectation that nurses practice at a
high professional standard.
 The nurse’s education, license and standard of practice provide the
framework by which nurses are expected to practice.
 When a nurse’s practice falls below acceptable standards of care and
competence, this exposes the nurse to litigation.
 The basis for litigation can relate to negligence, failing to exercise the
level of care that a reasonable , prudent nurse would under similar
circumstances; malpractice ; professional negligence, which means an
act of neglect in the nurse’s professional role.
 Act of omission and commission will also subject the nurse to
litigation and professional license review.
 Both litigation and professional license review can result in reprimand
of a nurse’s license or loss of license.
20

21. Specific Legal and Ethical issues
 Regardless of the type of patient, the level of care and
the method used in the care of a patient, the nurse has
a legal and ethical obligation to respond to the request
for care.
 It is the legal right of the patient to receive necessary
information on benefits and risk to make an informed
choice. E.g, many drugs theoretically are developed to
produce a therapeutic effect, they sometimes also
create detrimental side effects. The patient needs to
know about the side effects and must be in
determining if the benefits will outweigh the risk.
21

22. Specific Legal and Ethical Issues
 Another examples of issues that are legal and ethical
bounded and encountered by nurses.
 HIV/AIDS clients,
 abortion,
 organ transplantation,
 end of life decisions eg euthanasia, assisted suicide
 breaches of client confidentiality (computerized
information management)
9/24/2023 Prepared by Mrs Sawo 22

23. CONCLUSION
 Professional practice is an area that can create ethical
concerns for the practicing.
 Nurses are encouraged to refer to the international
council of nurses code of ethics, the Gambia
Government code of conduct and the EFSTH’S scope
and standard of practice for the practicing nurse in
addressing practice issues.
 No one should therefore take the law into your own
hands, because majority of the Gambians are fully
aware of their rights in the provision of health care
services to be rendered.
9/24/2023 Prepared by Mrs Sawo 23

24.  I THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND
KIND ATTENTION.
9/24/2023 Prepared by Mrs Sawo 24