Nursing is one of the most challenging professions in the world. The nurses have to deal with a variety of issue in the course of their work, which involves a complex and diversified environment. Nurses deal with hundreds of critical health-related problems in their everyday activities. In some circumstances, the decisions that they make test their personal as well as professional morality. Ethics in nursing has become one of the most critical issues within the nursing professions as it directly affects the way the nurses provide care for their patients. Like any other profession, nursing has principles and ethical codes of conduct that govern what the nurses are expected to do at every moment of their duty. This has however raised debate among scholars, with the proponents viewing the principles of ethics within nursing as a significant tool in enhancing the quality of service delivery by the nurses while the opponents claiming that these ethical principles limit the decision-making ability of the nurses and minimize their flexibility in offering a wide range of quality care for the patients. Despite each of these views, ethical principles and professional code of ethics in nursing remain to play a key role in minimizing undesirable and immoral actions while at the same time promoting the quality of the healthcare services thus improving the health outcome of the patients.
Nurses are expected to adhere to the ethical principles of autonomy, accountability, nonmaleficence, beneficence and treat the patients with justice and fairness. These principles have played a key role in promoting ethical behavior among the nurses and ensuring that there is improved quality of care for the patients ( Park et al., 2012 ). The principles of autonomy are essential in the nursing profession, and all the nurses are expected to adhere to the autonomy while in the cause of their duty. Autonomy is the principle which requires the nurse to accept the patient as a unique with inner rights to make their own decisions and give their own opinions and perspectives. Nurses should encourage the patients to be ready to make their own decisions without themselves making any judgment or receiving any persuasion from the nurse to accept anything. Under the principle of autonomy, the nurse must allow the patients the right to either accept or reject any form of treatment based on their own decision ( Judkins-Cohn et al., 2014). Autonomy is essential in maintaining an excellent patient-nurse relationship and enhancing the health outcome of the patients. The role of nursing is, therefore, to ensure that all nurses recognize the individual values and treat patients with respect while maintaining professionalism as this will enhance the quality of service delivery and promote patients outcome.
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Another element of ethics in nursing is the issue of patients’ confidentiality. Ethics require nurses to keep the private information of the patients confidential. This involves taking due care to ensure that the private information of the patients do not reach any unauthorized person without the consent of the patient as this will amount to a violation of the privacy rights ( Cannaerts, Gastmans &Casterlé, 2014 ). The principle requires the nurses to discuss the medical reports of the patients only if no one will hear such information. Sharing the private medical information of the patients can amount to the violation of the rights of the patients, and this can always subject them to trauma and depression. Studies have shown that out of every ten patients whose private information was shared, six of them got traumatized making them avoid going back to the health care for further treatment. To enhance the health outcome of the patients and increase patients’ satisfaction, it is essential that nurses adhere to the principle of confidentiality. The role of nursing in this is to ensure that nurses strictly respect the privacy of the patients and tech them against any attempt to violate the privacy right of the patients.
Beneficence is based on the need of the nurse to do a good and the right thing for the patients at all times. Any healthcare facility aims to improve the health outcome of the patients and make them well and better than they were before the treatment. The nurses, therefore, need to do what is right and good for the patients to help improve the health outcome. Ethical and responsible nurses promote both mental, physical and spiritual healing of an individual as a whole ( Kangasniemi, Pakkanen & Korhonen, 2015 ). While the patients are expected to make decisions about their treatment, they have to be mentally fit to do this, and nurses must play this role by promoting the mental healing of the patients. Acting in good faith and doing what is right for the patients is essential in enhancing the health outcome of the patients and improving the quality of the care services offered by the nurses. Doing something that is not right for the patients will amount to reduced patients recovery. Adhering to the principle of beneficence will, therefore, assist the nurses in providing better care for the patients and improve their satisfaction level. It is the role of the nursing profession to ensure that nurses remain ethical by being beneficence while they handle the patients ( Leuter et al., 2013 ).
Non-maleficence is concerned with the need to do no harm to the patients, whether intentional or not. Nurses while making decisions must understand the effects that such decisions will have on the patients. An ethical decision is that decision that causes no harm to the patients ( Cole, Wellard & Mummery, 2014 ). Harm can be caused by the nurse telling the patient the truth about the end stage of the disease. This, therefore, requires due care and proper decision making so that any action that will cause harm to the patients is avoided. The goal of the nurses is to provide quality care that will benefit the patients and make them recover as fast as possible. By avoiding actions that will cause harm to the patients, the healing process will be fastened leading to better health outcome on the patients ( Fawcett & Desanto-Madeya, 2012 ). The importance of this principle is, therefore, to ensure that any harm to the patients is avoided so that they can recover quickly. The nursing profession must, therefore, play a role in ensuring that nurses understand and adhere to the principle of non-maleficence so that the quality of the care services is increased.
Ethical responsibility requires the nurses to act with honesty and exercise strong moral values in their profession. Integrity is an integral part of the nursing profession and nurses must always ethically and apply due care and responsibility while on the course of their duty ( McCarthy & Gastmans, 2015 ). Certain malpractices such as dishonesty, disrespect for the patients and other forms of moral violations can always compromise the acre giving the ability of the nurse. This will, in turn, make the patients lose faith and trust in the nurses leading reduced satisfaction. Patients require to be treated with respect and dignity while at the same time their rights being respected ( Grace & DRN, 2017 ). Ethical principles are therefore significant in ensuring that nurses provide quality care for the patients based on the moral principles that govern the profession. Nursing plays a role in ensuring that nurses adhere to high ethical standards of the profession while at the same time maintaining the quality of the care services they provide to the patients.
Despite the importance of ethics in nursing and the significance of ethical principles in ensuring the quality of the care services, some have criticized these principles. For example, the principle of non-maleficence requires the nurse to do no harm to the patients either intentional or unintentional. In this scenario, telling the true information to the patient about the end stage of the disease could lead to harm to the patient. Critics have questioned the morality of this principle, arguing that the nurse should have the right, to tell the truth to the patient regardless of the outcome. They also argue that there is a difference between the individuals containing the information needed for autonomous decision making and the patient not being distressed by the truth ( Straughair, 2012 ). Also, giving the patients too much autonomy could affect the health outcome of the patients. Autonomy principle requires that the patients be given the right to decide on their own and to decide whether to accept a given treatment or not. This has been criticized on the ground that healthcare professionals are qualified and understand what is right for the patients and therefore giving the patients the right to autonomy could negatively affect the treatment process. However, studies have shown that quality care requires coordination between both the patients and the care professionals thus giving patients autonomy could promote positive health outcome.
In conclusion, ethical principles and professional code of ethics in nursing remain to play a key role in minimizing undesirable and immoral actions while at the same time promoting the quality of the healthcare services thus improving the health outcome of the patients. It is therefore important that the nursing profession ensure nurses adhere to the ethical standards that will improve the health outcome of the patients and promote the quality of the care.
References
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Cole, C., Wellard, S., & Mummery, J. (2014). Problematising autonomy and advocacy in nursing. Nursing ethics , 21 (5), 576-582.
