SEARCH · PubMed Health
Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Interviews with a convenient sample of 27 master's-prepared nurses working in two clinical settings revealed that none of them knew the content of the American Nurses' Association Code for Nurses. A content analysis developed four sensitizing experiences that were sources for their code of nursing practice. These were categorized as: (a) clinical, (b) personal, (c) research, and (d) professional socialization as a student.
This study examined the relationship between professional values of senior baccalaureate nursing students and graduate nurses compared to the values reflected in the Code for Nurses. A questionnaire was completed by 199 students and graduates of a secular and a nonsecular university. Data were analyzed using content analysis, frequency distributions, and multivariate procedures. Findings indicated that values identified most frequently by all respondents related to patient care issues rather than social issues of the profession. Analyses showed no significant difference in value identification between respondents from the secular and the nonsecular institutions. Implications for nursing education, nursing service, and future research are also discussed.
Three ethical principles upon which informed consent is founded are respect for persons, promotion of the best consequences, and rights. A valid informed consent--that is, one given by a person who has been informed, is competent, and has not been coerced--is one way of respecting persons, of enabling their rights. Consent given in the absence of information and competence, or in the presence of coercion, does not achieve these ends. Hence, it is not valid. The nurse is in a unique position to ensure the validity of consent. Nurses do this both by enhancing patients' opportunities for becoming informed and by observing for signs of incompetence and coercion. When the ability of a patient to execute a valid consent is compromised, the nurse needs to act to restore the patient's decision making capacities to the greatest level possible. Nursing's efforts in promoting morally valid consents are one way the profession recognizes the importance of each individual. This importance has been formally acknowledged by the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics (6). It is informally acknowledged when individual nurses act to maximize their patients' understanding and participation in the decisions surrounding health care. In helping patients to participate to the fullest possible extent, nurses show respect for the very unique human nature we all share. It is for this reason that insuring informed consent is worth whatever time and effort it takes.
This article has focused on the history of the code of ethics for nurses. The changes in the code intertwine with nursing's journey toward professionalism and reflect changes in nursing, society and health care. Over the years, however, the code has remained relatively stable. Six of the statements can be traced back to the 1926 code and five others to the revision of the code in 1960. The code of ethics has provided guidance for the profession, and has helped determine nursing's position as a profession in society.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
"Investigation of Professionalism in Nursing Behaviors" was funded by the Beta Upsilon Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International and the College of Nursing, Arizona State University. Researchers asked 514 nurses in eight western states if they had a copy of the Code For Nurses. Most respondents did not have a copy of the Code; however, they indicated that adherence to the Code was essential to the professional nurse. Years of practice, educational background, participation in autonomous activities, and present position were variables used to determine those respondents most likely to possess a copy of the Code. Implications for continuing educators are discussed.
A commitment to values is increasingly important for professional nurses. For practitioners of nursing, advances in knowledge and technology are raising complicated ethical questions that need a response. The guiding of ethical decision-making is a primary function of a code of ethics such as the Code for Nurses document (1978). Among practitioners of nursing, values identified most frequently are reflected in the first six statements that deal with professional issues. Values inherent in the last five statements, which focus on social issues, such as professional empowerment, are not readily identified. Internalization of the social issue values is critical for the future of nursing.
A retrospective on the concept of nursing's code of ethics as it was considered throughout our history. Cianci discusses its importance in the early days and why it has even broader implications in today's troubled times.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
This article traces the evolution of the development and the refinement of the professional code from concerns about the ethical conduct of nurses to its present state as a professional code for all nurses. The importance and the relationship of the Ethics Committee of the American Nurses' Association (ANA) to the development of the code and other ANA programs and structural units is also presented. The recognized need for a code of ethics to establish nursing as a profession has been present throughout the evolution of the professional nursing organization. A distinction between ethical conduct of nurses and a code of ethics for professional nurses has been made by nursing leaders. The code has been refined to reflect nursing's changing relationship to society and the societal concerns of the times.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The ANA Code for Nurses requires ethical behavior from all practitioners of nursing. As such, it serves to safeguard the public from unethical nurses. However, the code cannot and does not give direction in all situations nurses encounter in practice. Nurses require more assistance to meet the ethical requirements of professional practice. Careful exploration of moral principles and theories affords the nurse a broad background and some specific insights into morality and moral decision making. However, even this knowledge does not allow any nurse to put her ethical self "on automatic" while she appeals to one or another of these principles to support what she decides to do. No moral theory or principle is absolute. None can be used exclusively to resolve the many ethical questions nurses face. A nurse must use the process of reflective equilibrium to balance her own moral convictions and her background beliefs with accepted moral theories and principles, in order to reach sound moral judgements.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.