By Karen P Williams

In many professions, mostly in helping professions, there should be code of ethics which must be followed so that the people who are being assisted are assured that no advantages can be taken of them. Nurses are to bound with many ethical codes to ensure people of giving professional practice of high standard. There are numerous topics which are covered under nursing. Few of the most debated and discussed topics are allowing the patient of having informed consent and maintaining confidentiality and also the right to select their own treatment.

The right of choosing the treatment sparks a debate in most of the medical professionals and also plays an important role in nursing ethics. Ultimately a nurse gives best treatment to her patients at all times. Whenever the medical professional offers a medical option to his patient, the decision is up to the patient to pursue it or not. Few patients agree to go for the medical treatment. Sometimes the decision is also affected by the long term illness of the patient and the patient prefers not to cure his disease. Here the patient has decided not to take any medical treatment because of his long term illness. This is very difficult for a nurse to treat such type of patients and it is ultimately that the patient decides to accept the medical treatment or deny it. A nurse has to accept the decision of his/her patient but she still continues to treat her patients.

Another very important function of nursing ethics is to maintain confidentiality. The medical professionals have always been reminded to maintain confidentiality about medical information of a patient. Specific forms are there that a nurse gives the patient to sign about the access to the personal medical information of the patient. Many instances are there where people have been discriminated because of the medical information, therefore, it is important for a patient to maintain privacy regarding their medical information. Because of this, nurses are placed to be careful regarding the release of the patient’s personal information. If there is any failure in maintaining patient’s confidentiality then it can lead to repercussions for the nurse as well as the hospital.

Another important thing of nursing ethics is informed consent which is taught in nursing programs at all levels. Informed consent is a legal document which a patient signs which contains the details of how he/she wants to administer his medical treatment. Even in the worst conditions, if the health of the patient is continuously deteriorating, it allows him/her to decide what they would want for them medically if the patient is not able to decide at that particular moment. A very popular informed consent is DNR which means do not resuscitate. It is an order which does not advice the medical professions to attempt any life saving procedures. Even if the nurses and the medical professionals want to save the life of a patient, but if the patient has given a written consent to kill him, then proper ethical action has to be followed. But on the other hand, informed consent makes the nursing ethics less complicated as the desire of a person about his/her health is clearly mentioned.

These ethical standards also ensures that the patients receive best quality unbiased care.

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Source: isnare.com

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