Every individual, nurse or not have a guiding moral compass. In essence, ethical values and beliefs proffer a framework for behavior assessment and a direction for following specific paths or rationale to decision making. Ethics are descriptively the compounded belief-and-value system of a given moral community, profession, or social group. On the other hand, nurses are members of the healthcare system mandated with providing care to not only clients but also patients guided by both personal values and ethics of practice. As such, while identifying own values and beliefs from nursing ethics of practice is critical, it is equally difficult to separate the two concepts. Reiterating these sentiments is Shahriari et al. (2013) who corroborate that nurses act based on the values that they have selected which in turn form a framework for evaluating their activities regarding their strategies, goals, and mandate. Further, the authors add that nurses’ values and beliefs are considered as part of the nursing resources for their practice determining their clinical and ethical competency as well as their confrontation with contemporary ethical issues.
While personal beliefs and values often correlate with the ANA ethical guidelines for practice, sometimes both concepts conflict. For instance, this kind of conflict may arise in pain management or in end of life situations where euthanasia is considered or requested by the patient. It is such situations that nurses are expected to separate their personal beliefs and the nursing ethics of practice. This separation is central because mixing the two could result in a litigation process or a violation of the nursing guidelines hinged on healthcare policies and laws. According to Stokes (2019), some of the reasons why nurses precariously mix the two include moral disengagement, biases, or poor environment for optimal practice.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
As such, one essential method of separating the two concepts is by preserving moral integrity. By so doing, the nurses become aware of the difference between their perception of what constitutes good nursing and what they are taught or observe during practice. Consequently, nurses can redefine their perceptions as well as their role in caring for clients and patients. Also, nurses need to accept the possibility of conflict between personal values and ethics of practice that could unknowingly create a self-identity in justifying their actions and decisions as nurses. Hence, by accepting this possibility, they remain vigilant for such dilemmatic situations.
Moreover, Al-Banna (2017) ascertains that when faced with a dilemma regarding personal values and nursing ethics, the nurse needs to not only evaluate the alternatives he or she has but also examine the possible consequences of each decision he or she makes. The nurse can achieve this by consulting the client or patient’s choices and needs and cross-referencing them with the nursing guidelines. Therefore, the decision made by the nurse should to not only be free of personal bias due to personal beliefs and values such as empathy but also in tandem with the nursing guidelines and at the same time meet the client’s or patient’s needs. For instance, when a patient at the end of life situation or one with a terminal illness requests for active or passive euthanasia, the nurse should not act out of empathy for the patient’s suffering. Instead, he or she should consider the nursing laws and guidelines regarding the end of life situations as well as the patient’s mental state in tandem with the patient’s family demands.
Even though the nurses have the autonomy in decision making, they must realize their responsibilities to their profession, community, patients, as well as families and thereby rid themselves of bias in making the decisions. A salient means of achieving this is by applying the core ethics of practice in decision making. These include sacredness of life, non-maleficence and beneficence, justice and fairness, honesty or transparency, and human dignity. In the same vein, they should remember their Nightingale Pledge and communicate with their peers and senior management on how to handle dilemmatic situations in practice. Through listening to the experiences of others, especially their seniors or senior peers, nurses can gain fundamental insight and awareness regarding when and how to separate personal beliefs and values from the profession.
References
Al-Banna, D. A. (2017). Core Professional and Personal Values of Nurses about Nursing in Erbil City Hospitals: A Profession, Not Just Career. Nurse Care Open Acces J , 2 (6), 00056. DOI: 10.15406/ncoaj.2017.02.00056
Stokes, L., J. D. (2019). ANA Position Statement: The Ethical Responsibility to Manage Pain and the Suffering It Causes. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing , 24 (1), 1-6. DOI:10.3912/OJIN.Vol24No01PoSCol01
Shahriari, M., Mohammadi, E., Abbaszadeh, A., & Bahrami, M. (2013). Nursing ethical values and definitions: A literature review. Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery research , 18 (1), 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3748548/
