Dignity In Nursing Essay

Dignity is derived from the Latin word Dignitas (merit) or Dignus (worthy). The Oxford English Dictionary defines dignity as “the state or quality of being worthy of honour or respect”. (Oxford English Dictionary, 2007) The idea of dignity is a more multi-faceted concept, relating to an individual’s feelings, control, self, confidentiality and the behaviours of others in their environment. Every individual is worthy of respect regardless of their physical, emotional, cognitive/educational and spiritual differences. (Current Nursing, 2012)

In nursing, dignity is a very important component of the holistic care of each individual patient. Maintaining the dignity of a patient shows respect and should be promoted throughout their stay in the healthcare
An Bord Altranais new Code of Conduct and Ethics states that patient’s confientiality and privacy is a core professional value and is to be respected at all times and that honesty, integrity and trustworthiness are key factors which should underpin nursing care. It tells us that conserving a patient’s confidentility forms a trusting relationship between them and their nurse. The patient should feel confident that their information will be kept private. The information belongs to them and should not be shared unless this is expressed by the patient themselves regarding certain friends and family members or unless the patient has some cognitive impairment or loss of consiousness. If a nurse were to share a patient’s information the patient may feel embarrassed, isolated and will no longer have any trust in the nurse which may have an impact on the ease of carrying out nursing care. (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland,
The four main meta-paradigm concepts for nursing include (a) The Person (patient), (b) The Environment, (c) Health and (d) Nursing (goals, roles, and functions). (Current Nursing, 2012) A nursing theory is a set of nursing concepts, ideas and their interconnecting relationships. A model is sometimes seen as a representation of something real – an idea by which you can establish a basic understanding and concept of the reality. A theoretical nursing model is a tool used to help understand and carry out a particular nursing theory in reality. (Current Nursing 2012) A model is a structured framework that shows the relationship between concepts in a particular theory and helps to establish a theory to clinical practice bridge. (Mason, 2003) A model can be used by nurses to gain a theoretical understanding of a particular nursing concept, which they can then use as a base to apply the knowledge in the clinical setting. Student nurses can think back to related theory learnt during her time in college or during reflection and can develop her theoretical framework and then use this knowledge as a basis for her practical learning in clinical placement on the