My Nursing Ethics Paper

Running head: My Nursing Ethic

My Nursing Ethic

Richard Doria

Grand Canyon University

NRS-437V

Nov 3, 2013

My Nursing Ethic Values and ethics play a huge role in the nursing practice. Nursing care involves preventing illness and its complications, promotion or health restoration, and reducing suffering in the terminally ill. Nurses use their technical skills, qualities such as compassion, humanitarian service and duty, and efficient decision making in meeting the needs of their patients, families, and communities. An important part of nursing is ensuring the safety and the rights of patients. Vigilance of nurses is necessary in order to avoid unwanted and unnecessary treatments that lead to patient suffering. Nurses and other health
Each time I come home exhausted from a 12 hour shift, I go back and reflect on my goal and why I am in this profession: to make a positive impact on the lives of my patients and their families every day. Being a nurse for 4 years, my passion has remained constant and I can honestly say that my high degree of compassion toward human beings is what is keeping me in the nursing profession. “Many nurses go into and stay in the nursing profession to make a difference. They are not only passionate about taking care of other human beings and making a difference in their patients’ lives, but strive to make a difference in their facilities, communities, government, and professional organizations. Remember Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? Self-Actualization sits alone atop of the needs pyramid (behind physiological, safety, social, and esteem needs). Maslow described self-actualization as what a man can be, he must be. This level of need pertains not only to what a person 's full potential is, but realizing that potential. Did you become a nurse because you wanted to accomplish a higher degree of education and skill in order to attain self-actualization? Perhaps you stay in the profession to continue your education and continue to excel in skill and knowledge base in an effort to gain self-actualization. Is that your
Prudence is not just having good intentions. It also consists of having the knowledge needed to take care of our patients, and transforming this into reasonable decisions (Broadie, 2002). Often in my nursing career that I have encountered complicated ethical dilemmas in which I thought about either confronting directly or just turning away. Values, morals, and ethics help me take action, even when it is hard to do the right thing. As a young adult, I have learned from my elders that my personal values and preconceptions should not mix with my professional principles. My foundation of ethical decision making lies in the Code of Conduct for Nurses. “The American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics for Nurses contains a common, shared set of ethical principles to guide nurses’ professional behavior. All nurses are encouraged to hold to these principles in their practice of professional nursing. While the Code of Ethics for Nurses encourages nurses to remain consistent with their own personal values, it also emphasizes the need for open discussion of differing ethical principles in a manner that does not consistently place one principle above another, thus avoiding the dangers of moral arrogance and moral certitude” (Murray, 2010). Moreover, my personal values, philosophy, and worldview may conflict with my obligation to practice, creating an ethical dilemma. Many nurses have experienced this,