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Results for “UKCC Code of Professional Conduct (Great Britain)”

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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Nurses' views of the decision not to resuscitate a patient.

The decision not to resuscitate a patient is a complex issue and there is little guidance for nurses on how such a decision is made. The aim of this study was, therefore, to explore the views and working practices of staff in relation to current guidelines and theories, using a situational analysis. Overall, the staff seemed to meet the criteria outlined in the guidelines, although there was little awareness of the guidelines. Nurses in the clinical area should be both educated in the recommendations for practice and should be consulted and involved in developing such recommendations.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Research, ethics and the data protection legislation.

As nursing research becomes more common, so does the issue of whether or not patients should be involved and, if so, to what extent. This article examines how the data protection legislation helps to protect patients, and whether they have the capability to decide to participate, or not.

Clinical Nursing Research↗
PubMed2001

The UK Human Rights Act 1998: implications for nurses.

In this article we consider some of the implications of the UK Human Rights Act 1998 for nurses in practice. The Act has implications for all aspects of social life in Britain, particularly for health care. We provide an introduction to the discourse of rights in health care and discuss some aspects of four articles from the Act. The reciprocal relationship between rights and obligations prompted us to consider also the relationship between guidelines in the United Kingdom Central Council's Code of professional conduct and the requirements of the Human Rights Act 1998. We conclude with the recommendation that the new legislation should be welcomed for its potential to support good practice and to urge critical and reflective practice rather than as yet another burdensome bureaucratic imposition.

Codes of Ethics↗
PubMed1993

Ethics, agency and empowerment in nurse education.

The ethical demands of professional nursing practice are considered, and the concept of Agency is offered as a potentially useful part of the nurses conceptual equipment for such practice. The pressures of working in large organisations are suggested to be inimical to a sense of Agency, and it is also suggested that some of the academic disciplines involved in nurse education are offering an ambiguous view of the issue of Agency. The discipline of Ethics, while also ambiguous on this issue, is presented as offering useful ways of exploring that ambiguity. Several theories of Ethics are considered in relation to human freedom and responsibility, and the issue between determinism and free will is likewise considered. It is suggested that these offer ways of helping the individual to explore and develop their own stance on freedom and responsibility, and thereby on the issue of Agency. This discussion is related to the United Kingdom Central Council (UKCC) Code of Professional Conduct, and the paradox of choice is acknowledged.

Codes of Ethics↗
PubMed1994

A right to die?

Often nurses within the critical care setting face moral dilemmas when confronted with issues surrounding resuscitation and withdrawal of treatment. In this article the nurses' role and the patients' rights regarding resuscitative measures and withdrawal of basic and advanced forms of life support are discussed. Cases that have improved decision-making have been used to illustrate the dilemmas involved. It is hoped that critical care nurses will become more aware of their vital role when these decisions are being made.

Advance Directives↗
PubMed1996

What are the limits to the obligations of the nurse?

This paper enquires into the nature and the extent of the obligations of nurses. It is argued that nurses appear to be obliged to undertake supererogatory acts if they take clause one of the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (UKCC) Code of Professional Conduct seriously (as, indeed, they are required to do). In the first part of the paper, the nature of nursing obligations is outlined, and then the groups and individuals to whom nurses have obligations are identified. Following a brief discussion of the moral foundation of the nurse's obligations to her/his employer, a common conflict of obligations is identified. Then a distinction is drawn between ordinary and extraordinary moral standards. Appreciation of this is necessary for an understanding of the criterion of what constitutes a supererogatory act. By the definition of supererogatory acts proposed below, it is suggested that actions such as whistleblowing satisfy that definition.

Beneficence↗
PubMed1994

Professional codes: an exercise in tokenism?

The paper questions the effectiveness of the United Kingdom Central Council's (UKCC's) Code of Professional Conduct upon the moral climate of nursing. It challenges the claim that the empowerment of nurses is significantly enhanced by the Code or that it necessarily makes them more accountable for their practice. The position is taken that the Code, in the absence of an effective support network for whistle-blowers, places an unreasonable burden upon nurses in its exhortations to report unprofessional conduct. The paper acknowledges the need to retain the Code, but with more modest claims being made concerning its empowering qualities. It is argued that unless more attention is focused on ways to support potential whistle-blowers, the Code will come to be seen as an irrelevance.

Codes of Ethics↗
PubMed1994

Guilt and nursing practice: implications for nurse education and the climate of care.

This paper considers the influence of guilt within nursing practice. The author draws on her experience as a nurse tutor to show how guilt has implications for the well-being of both nurses and patients. It is suggested that nurses' experience of guilt, and the fear that they may be considered guilty, are indicative of a moral climate that rests predominantly upon rules. While rules fulfil a requirement for professional and organizational accountability, they need not be perceived as statements about the trustworthiness of nurses, or as a disciplinary threat. Nurses need to feel trusted to bring judgement to their practice.

Education, Nursing↗
PubMed1996

To kill or not to kill: a question of wartime ethics.

In this article, the author describes ethical decision-making in unique circumstances. A dichotomy exists between the dual roles of nurse and disaster manager in a wartime setting. The circumstances of the situation had never been faced before and no precedents existed for the type of decisions being made. Clearly, professional codes of conduct existed along with international conventions with reference to war. The circumstances required the author to challenge the concepts of teleology and deontology in a search for the most fitting answers to a unique problem. His aim was to try to create the greatest good out of an impossible situation. The author reflects on his actions in the light of ethical thinking and considers whether his decisions were right.

Codes of Ethics↗
PubMed1996

Nursing ethics and codes of professional conduct.

Nurses, like many other professional and semiprofessional groups, have a code of conduct. This raises important philosophical questions about the point of including nursing ethics in nursing education and about the content and methods of such teaching. This paper identifies seven functions that might be fulfilled by professional codes; it discusses the philosophical issues these raise and the implications for teaching professional ethics. It is argued that, far from codes rendering the teaching of ethics unnecessary, they provide additional reasons for its inclusion. An enhanced ability to make moral decisions helps to overcome the shortcomings of the codes, enables a profession to be autonomous in the development of its code, enables individuals to be authentic moral agents, and is essential in matters concerning the disciplinary function of the codes. The role of emotions, feelings and attitudes in ethics also presents philosophical problems that moral education can help to resolve.

Codes of Ethics↗
PubMed1997

The virtues in the moral education of nurses: Florence Nightingale revisited.

The virtues have been a neglected aspect of morality; only recently has reference been made to their place in professional ethics. Unfashionable as Florence Nightingale is, it is nonetheless worth noting that she was instrumental in continuing the Aristotelian tradition of being concerned with the moral character of persons. Nurses who came under Nightingale's sphere of influence were expected to develop certain exemplary habits of behaviour. A corollary can be drawn with the current UK professional body: nurses are expected to behave in certain ways and to display particular kinds of disposition. The difference lies in the fact that, while Nightingale was clear about the need for moral education, current emphasis is placed on ethical theory and ethical decision-making.

Education, Nursing↗
PubMed1997

In defence of patient/person human rights within national health care provision: implications for British nursing.

One cannot fail to be aware of the 'human rights' that are vividly thrust into our living rooms by the world's media; but, what are human rights and are they of relevance to British nursing practice? In a democratic state such as the UK, human rights infringements or violations are not typified as occurring in a health care system outwardly appearing to safeguard the interests of the patient/person. This paper examines some of the issues and concludes that the notion of human rights remains inconspicuous and peripheral to the 'real world' of clinical nursing practice. It challenges British nurses to reflect on their practice and outwardly demonstrate that nursing's contemporary language of human rights does not remain simply rhetorical in nature.

Dissent and Disputes↗
PubMedDate not supplied

IV hydration in the terminally ill: ritual or therapy?

The management of dehydration is both a clinical and an ethical problem. Artificial hydration may increase pharyngeal and pulmonary secretions, which causes a choking sensation, nausea and vomiting. Food and fluid have a strong social, cultural, religious and psychological significance. Competent nursing requires expert knowledge and moral skill. The interests of the patient must always be paramount. An ethical decision-making framework provides a systematic approach to ethical problems.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Confidentiality. 1: Nurses' duty to respect patient confidentiality.

Trust is at the heart of the nurse/patient relationship, yet many nurses find themselves in situations where they are tom between their duty of confidentiality to the patient and other duties. This series of articles seeks to analyse the source of the duty of confidentiality and discusses individual situations giving rise to conflict within the statutory law context.

Confidentiality↗