Professional Standards and Codes of Ethics in Nursing

As the nursing profession progresses throughout the years, its nature becomes more complex in meeting the professional standards and codes of ethics that are required by all nurses. The American Nurses Association has a specific code of ethics that each nurse should follow and adopt as their own beliefs. The public and the patients should be the priority when providing care in the healthcare setting. The knowledge and education that nurses’ gain is valuable and allows them to encourage health, avoid illness, restore health, and aid in coping for those who are all ill. (LeMone, pp.192) Given that the code of ethics is put into place, there are many registered nurses who violate these codes in various situations. The following will discuss various codes that were violated during the care of a client with a nutritional risk.
The client, a 54 year old Caucasian male, was admitted to the hospital for a motor vehicle accident. Upon admission, Nurse A told family members that the client had a poor prognosis and asked if they would like to contact a member of the clergy for support. Nurse A also asked if the client was an organ donor and if not, then the family should think about it since his condition is critical. The two statements made by Nurse A violated 1.1 under provision 1 of the ANA code of ethics, which states the nurse must have respect for human dignity. (Nursing World, 2012) When the patient’s family asked about the prognosis, the nurse immediately responded with a statement that she was not qualified to say. The nurse also should not have recommended that the family contact a member of the clergy for support because this implied that the patient will soon be deceased. These statements did not respect the patient for what their worth nor the family. It is important that nurses respond to all situations in a respectful manner and not ever assume what will or needs to happen.
The patient has been in the hospital for 6 days and has lost 20 lbs. He is