Nursing Ethics

Main Concept:

 Nursing Ethics is concerned with the principles and right conduct as they apply to the nursing
profession. It reinforces the nurses’ ideals and motives in order to maximize the affectivity of
their service.
 Nursing Jurisprudence is that department of law which comprises all the legal rules and
principles affecting the practice of nursing. It also includes the interpretation of all these rules
and principles and their application to the regulation of the practice of nursing.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

1. Profession – an occupation or calling requiring advance training and experience in some specific
or specialized body of knowledge which provides service to society in that specific field.
2. Vocation – an occupation of calling.
3. Ethics – refers to a standard to examine and understanding moral life.
4. Morality – refers to social consensus about moral conduct for human beings and society.
5. Professional Ethics – a branch of normal science concerned with the obligations that a member
of the profession owes to the public.
6. Health Care Ethics – the division of ethics that relates to human health.
7. Bio-Ethics – a specific domain of ethics that focuses on moral issues in the field of health care.
8. Nursing Ethics – related to all the principles of right conduct as they apply to the profession.
9. Nursing Profession – the performance for a few, salary or other reward or compensation or
professional nursing service to individuals, families and communities in various stages of
development. The promotion of health, prevention of diseases, restoration of heath and
alleviation of suffering thru:
 Utilization of Nursing Process
 Establishment of connection with community resources
 Motivation of individuals, families and communities
 Participation in teaching guidelines and supervision
 Undertaking nursing and health manpower development

ETHICAL APPROACHES

A. Teleological Approach or Act of Utilitarianism

 Teleological comes from the Greek word “Telos” or “goal or end.”
 This is expressed as “the right thing to do is the good thing to do.”
 The teleological approach is also termed as act utilitarianism where the good resides in
the promotion of happiness or the greatest not increase of pleasure over pain.
 Guidelines for making ethical decisions:
1. Consideration for people as human beings;
2. Consideration of consequences;
3. Proportionate good to come from choices;
4. Propriety of actual needs over ideal or potential needs;
5. A desire to enlarge choices and reduce chance; and
6. A courageous acceptance of the consequence of the decision.

B. Deontological Approach or Duty-Oriented Theory

 The basic rightness or wrongness of an act depends on the intrinsic natures rather than
upon the situation or its consequences.
 The word deontology came from the Greek work “deon” which means duty.

C. Virtue Ethics Approach

 Virtue Ethics, known as aretaic ethics (from the Greek word “arête”) is focused primarily
on the heart of the person performing the act.
 It focused on the traits and virtues of a good person such as courage, temperance,
wisdom and justice.
 Intellectual Virtue is the power to deliberate about things good for oneself.
 Moral Virtues must be lived over time in order to be learned.

D. Divine Command Ethics

 Is based on the theory that there is a Supreme or Divine being that sets down the rules
to provide guidance to moral decisions.

UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES OF BIOMEDICAL ETHICS

A. Autonomy
 Comes from the Greek word “autos” meaning self and “nomos” meaning governance.
 It involves self-determination and freedom to choose and implement one’s decision,
free from deceit, duress, constraint or coercion.
B. Veracity
 To maximize the efficiency of health care, the patient and the health care providers are
bound to tell the truth.
 The patient has the responsibility to provide, to the best of his knowledge, accurate and
complete information about his complaints, past illness, previous hospitalizations,
medications taken, allergies, religious restrictions, and other matters relevant to his
health.
C. Beneficence / Peace Education
  The principle of beneficence promotes doing acts of kindness and mercy that directly
benefit the patient.
 These acts promote the health of the patient, prevent illness or complications, alleviate
suffering and assist towards peaceful death if inevitable comes.
D. Nonmaleficence
 Is stated as an admonition in the negative form to remind health practitioners to do no
harm.
E. Justice
 Refers to the right to demand to be treated justly, fairly and equally.

IMPORTANCE OF ETHICAL CODES

1. It is a systematic guide for developing ethical behavior.

2. It answers normative questions of what beliefs and values should be morally accepted.

NURSING CODE OF ETHICS

1. Importance
It strongly emphasizes the four-fold responsibility of nurse, the universality of the nursing
practice, the scope of their responsibilities to the people they serve, to their co-workers, to
society and environment, and to their profession.
2. Brief History:
a. 1982
 The Philippine Nurses Association Special Committee, under the chairmanship of Dean
Erneritus Iulita V. Sotejo, developed a Code of Ethics for Filipino nurses.
b. 1984
 The Board of Nursing, Professional Regulation Commission adopted the Code of Ethics
of the International Council for Nurses through Board Resolution No. 633 adding
“promotion of spiritual environment” as the fifth fold responsibility of the nurse.
 This was enforced up to 1989.
c. 1989
 The Code of Ethics promulgated by the Philippine Nurses Association was approved
by the Professional Regulation Commission and through Board Resolution No. 1955
was recommended for use.
 This was approved by the general assembly of the Philippine Nurses Association
during the Nurses Week convention on October 25, 1990.
3. Amended Code of Ethics for Nurses
a. Pursuant to Section 3 of Republic Act No. 877, known as the Philippines Nursing Law, and
Section 6 of PD No. 233, the amended Code of Ethics for Nurses recommended and
endorsed by the Philippine Nurses Association was adopted to govern the practice of
nursing in the Philippines.
b. The Code was accepted under Republic Act 9173 and promulgated by the Board of Nursing
under Resolution No. 220 last July 14, 2004.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE NURSE TO T HE PATIENTS

1. Give him/her the kind of care his/her condition needs regardless of his/her race, creed, color,
nationality or status.
2. The patient’s care shall be based on needs, the physician’s orders, and the ailment.
3. The nurse shall involve the patient and/or his/her family so that he/she or any of the family can
participate in his/her care.
4. Know the patient’s Bill of Rights.
5. Be patient advocate. Treat patient in a manner that will show concern whether the patient is
rich or poor.
6. Nurses should not leave a patient or any agency without prior permission or resignation or
without relief.
7. Nurses should commit themselves to the welfare of those entrusted to their care.

PATIENT”S BILL OF RIGHTS

1. The patient ahs the right to considerate and respectful care.

2. The patient has the right to obtain from his physician complete and current information
concerning his diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis in terms the patient can be reasonably
expected to understand.
3. The patient has the right to receive from his physician information necessary to give informed
consent prior to the start of any procedure and/or treatment.
4. The patient has the right to refuse treatment and to be informed of the medical consequences
of his action.
5. The patient has the right to every consideration of his privacy concerning his own medical care
program.
6. The patient has the right to expect that all communications and records pertaining to his care
should be treated as confidential.
7. The patient has the right to expect within its capacity, a hospital must make reasonable
response to the request of a patient for services.
8. The patient has the right to obtain information as to any relationship his hospital has to other
health care and educational institutions insofar as his care is concerned.