GANIBAN, GIL RAPHAEL L.

Ethics Sec-34

How is ethics applied in your field of discipline?

In the 2015 Gallup Poll, for the 14th year in a row, nursing was rated the most honest

and ethical profession. Out of twenty-one occupations, nursing ranked the highest at 85

percent. The ranking was based on telephone interviews with 824 American adults. Nursing

has consistently placed at the top of list since 1999 when the profession joined the poll.

Ethics, simply defined, is a principle that describes what is expected in terms of right and

correct and wrong or incorrect in terms of behaviour. It is a fundamental matter when it

comes to us Nurses. All nurses should have respect and care for patients. Also, Nurses must

create and maintain trust and respect between patients’ dignity and protect patient’s rights.

Patients’ entrust their dignity to nurses, so nurses must guard their privacy, listen to their

concerns and consider their wishes concerning the care they want to receive.

As nurses, ethics translates into the ways in which nurses are expected to behave.

Nurses also have our code of ethics which wherein they oath to follow and dedicate our lives

to it. The American Nurses Association (ANA) Center for Ethics and Human Rights was

established to help nurses navigate ethical and value conflicts, and life and death decisions,

many of which are common to everyday practice. The ethical responsibilities of nurses

include promoting health, preventing disease and alleviating suffering. It focuses on giving

respect and compassion regardless of any characteristic.

The International Council of Nurses (ICN) defines nursing as follows:

Nursing encompasses autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families,

groups and communities, sick or well in all settings. Nursing includes the promotion of
health, prevention of illness, and the care of ill, disabled, and dying people. Advocacy,

promotion of a safe environment, research, participating in shaping health policy and in

patient and health systems management, and education are also key nursing roles. (ICN,

2002)

We’re in a multicultural environment, we are constantly confronted on different

points of view on what the right thing to do in many of these situations. Nurses must really be

able to ground themselves at what respect and dignity require us. ethical standards in medical

care promote other important moral and social values such as social responsibility, human

rights, patients' welfare, compliance with the law, SMC's regulations, and patients' safety.

With ethics at the forefront, nurses must balance the needs of their patients and the

requirements of the healthcare systems that employ them.

Professional codes serve a useful purpose in providing direction to health care

professionals, although, one must remember that codes do not eliminate moral dilemmas and

are of no use without professionals who are motivated to act normally and wisely. Benner

contended when speaking of the nurse’s role in working for social justice, “each of us nursing

organization must breathe life into the code by taking individual and collective action”

(Fowler & Benner, 2001). Ethical codes are systematic guidelines for shaping ethical

behaviour that answer the norms of what beliefs and values should be morally accepted.

However, one must be noted that no code can provide absolute or complete rules that are free

of conflicts.

Here is an example of an ethical dilemma for nurses and any other health care

professionals:

A 20-year-old, pregnant, Black Hispanic female presented to the Emergency Department

(ED) in critical condition following a single-vehicle car accident. She exhibited signs and
symptoms of internal bleeding and was advised to have a blood transfusion and emergency

surgery in an attempt to save her and the fetus. She refused to accept blood or blood products

and rejected the surgery as well. Her refusal was based on a fear of blood transfusion due to

her belief in Bible scripture.

The ethical dilemma presented is whether to respect the patient's autonomy and compromise

standards of care or ignore the patient's wishes in an attempt to save her life. For nurses, we

give top most priority for the care and life of our patient. Our number one goal is to keep the

patient healthy. Nurses tend to choose to perform necessary procedures to ensure her health

regardless of her belief. Because codes are unable to provide exact directives for moral

reasoning and action in all situations, some people have stated that virtue ethics provides a

better approach to ethics because the emphasis is on a person’s character rather than on rules,

principle, and laws (Beauchamp & Childress, 2001).

Ethics is important for health practitioners. It may be considered as pillars to their

discipline. This is used as guidelines in practicing health care and respecting patient’s rights

as a human being. Also, Nurses must be fair when they distribute care, for example, among

the patients in the group of patients that they are taking care of.