NURSING ETHICS

Definition

Ethics is custom, ideas, manners and rules of behaviour; it is concerned with character or
practice/ conducts which help to right living.

Nurse is a qualified health worker in the art and science of nursing and meets the standards of
education and clinical competence to provide essential, preventive, promotive or rehabilitative
health services not only physical needs but also the spiritual needs.

Nursing is a profession therefore every nurse is responsible for working/keeping/practicing

within the prescribed ethical code of conduct. Nursing knows no barriers. The sick must be cared
for regardless of religion, race, or tribe/colour, old, young, rich, poor. It is a special calling from
God to cooperate with him and then be useful in restoring health and happiness to suffering
humanity.

The ethical code of conducts or standards includes

1. The fundamental responsibility of the nurse is three fold: to conserve life, to alleviate
suffering and to promote health.
2. The nurse must maintain at all time, the highest standard of nursing care and professional
conduct.
3. The nurse must only be ready to practice, but must maintain her knowledge and skills at
all level at consistently high level.
4. The religious beliefs of the patient must be respected.
5. The nurse holds in confidence all the personal information entrusted to them.
6. A nurse recognizes not only the responsibility but also the limitations of her/his
professional functions: recommends, gives medical treatment without medical orders
only in emergencies and report such action to a physician at the earliest possible moment.
7. The nurse is under an obligation to carry out the physician orders intelligently and loyally
and to refuse to participate in unethical procedures.
8. The nurse sustains confidence in the physician and other members of the health team;
unethical conducts of associates should be exposed but only to the proper authority.
9. A nurse is entitled to just remuneration and accepts only such compensations as the
contract, actual or implied, provides.
10. The nurse does not permit their names their names to be used in connection with
advertisement of products or other forms of self-advertisements.
11. The nurse cooperates with and maintains harmonies relationships with members of other
professions and with her or his professional colleagues.

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 12. The nurse is private life adheres to standards of personal ethics which reflects credits
upon the profession.
13. In personal conducts nurses should not knowingly disregard the accepted patterns of the
behaviors of the community in which they live and work.
14. All nurses participate and shares responsibility with other citizens and other health
professions in promoting efforts to meet the other needs of the local public and
international.

General principles of all nursing procedures

 Show interest and devotion on duty; be alert and neat in all your assignments. Make
patients the focused of attention as he/she is the sole reason for the existence of our
profession.
 Demonstrate and inspire confidence, knowledge of and efficiency in techniques at the
times.
 Use the available equipment and nursing and nursing appliances which should be
collected quickly, quietly and methodically.
 Trays and trolleys must be neat and complete to give adequate nursing procedure.
 Thoroughly test all equipment to make sure it is in good condition before preparing the
tray or trolley.
 Display a high sense of responsibility in administration custody of drugs and in the
dispensation of any kind of treatment.
 Keep up to date with new methods, techniques, drugs and lotions; know exactly their use,
dosage toxic effects and the calculation of the dosage.

Patients comfort.

1. Ensure maximum comfort of the patient and respect his /her privacy.

 Telling him/her what is to take place, explaining the procedure as simple as possible.
 Protect the patient from drought and avoid undue exposure, make sure that windows are
closed and screens appropriately placed.
 Observe any change in the patients’ general condition during the procedure.
 Establish a good nurse /patient’s relationship to secure the patient’s confidence and
induce their tranquility in mind.
2. Always prepares everything that will be require and have it by the patient before
beginning the procedure.
3. Lift and handle the patients as gentle as possible exhibiting courtesy.

Procedures.

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  Steps in carrying out nursing procedures.
 Use appropriate equipment, patients comfort being the Centre of the procedure.
 Exercise aseptic precautions where indicated in procedures.
 Avoid cross infection by observing the rules lay down
 An emergency tray must be at hand for any procedure like to be attended by shock.

Steps in carrying out nursing procedures.

1. Collect the equipment needed and prepare the tray/trolley.

2. Explain the procedure to the patients.
3. Screen the bed and close the adjacent windows.
4. Bring the tray/trolley to the bed side.
5. Position the patients.
6. Wash hands.
7. On completion of the procedures leave the patients comfortable.
8. Leave the surrounding tidy
9. Clean and replace the equipment.
10. Wash hands.
11. Report and record procedures.
12. Send any specimens obtained to the laboratory as soon as possible.

FUNCTIONS OF THE HOSPITALS, PHCC, PHCU.

1. To provide curative ranging from medical, surgical and pediatrics and maternal and child
health as well as nursing care.
2. Promote the health of an individual, families and the community.
3. Prevent diseases.
4. To provide facilities for training health personnel such as nurses, doctors and other
cadres.
5. To conduct medical and nursing research in order to improve health care.

ECONOMY OF THE HOSPITAL.

It is the responsibility of everybody in the hospital to see that the hospital expenditures are kept
very low.

Drugs: - are most expensive of all, do not throw away any left over, medicines should be
returned to the pharmacy if patients are discharged. Certain drugs kept in the refrigerators, use
correct measurements of all medicines to avoid wastage.

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Electricity machines: - as soon as they are out of order a requisition should be ordered to have
them inspected and repaired.

Food: – order food according to the number and size of the patient you have on the ward to
avoid excess. Unused food must be returned to the kitchen, food left by patients must be
discarded.

Dressing: - cotton wool, lint, gauze are very expensive items and should be only used for the
purpose for which are intended.

Water and electricity: - switch off lights use; do not leave water running after use. When a light
is fused, nursed should report it immediately.

Handling of equipment: - equipment should be handled with care and breakages reported
immediately.

Inventory: - this should be kept on each ward in order to check the amount of losses especially
linen and cutlery.