Recording-2025-02-28T17:34:55.228Z

Nursing as a Self-Regulating Profession

• Nursing in Canada is a self-regulating profession, established to ensure the quality of care and accountability.

• Nurses are bound to a code of ethics that serves to protect both the profession and patients.

Purpose of the Code of Ethics

• Aspirational and Regulatory Nature: The code serves two functions:

  • Aspirational: It sets high standards and encourages nurses to strive for excellence in care.

  • Regulatory: It provides a mechanism to address breaches of standards, enabling advocacy for ethical practice.

Structure of the Code

• The code is divided into two parts:

  1. Part One: Nursing values and ethical responsibilities (focus of current class).

  2. Part Two: Ethical endeavors related to broader societal issues (upcoming class).

• Emphasis on the seven primary nursing values, which are interrelated and essential to nursing practice.

Nursing Values

• Providing safe, compassionate, competent, and ethical care is a central nursing value that guides ethical responsibilities.

• These responsibilities affect interactions with all individuals receiving care, aimed at aligning practice with the code's standards.

• Responsibilities guide nurses in applying ethical principles to their decision-making process and professional interactions.

Key Ethical Principles in Nursing

1. Autonomy

• Definition: Involves respecting patients' rights to make informed, voluntary decisions regarding their health care.

• Informed Consent: Fundamental to patient autonomy; it requires giving patients adequate information for decision-making.

2. Beneficence

• Definition: Health care providers must actively work to benefit patients and prevent harm.

• Practical Application: Health care professionals should always strive to do good for their patients while avoiding negligence or harm from both action and omission.

• The anticipated outcome is proactive care that protects and enhances patient well-being.

3. Justice

• Definition: The principle of fairness in healthcare, emphasizing equitable access to care for all individuals.

• Distribution of Resources: Addressing the challenge of scarce healthcare resources to ensure equitable care.

• Example: In emergencies, prioritization must consider the severity of conditions over socioeconomic status.

Application of Ethical Principles

• Nurses must analyze ethics in various scenarios, using case studies to identify and dissect ethical concerns.

• Encourages critical assessment of real-life situations and the application of nursing values and ethical principles.