Free Nursing Values and Ethics Essay Sample

The personal values that determine my world view and philosophy of nursing is my belief that nurses personally live and breathe nursing. The nursing career is all encompassing, autonomous and collaborative. Nursing involves taking care of people of all ages, communities, families, groups, sick or well people and this takes place in all settings, and this view on nursing has enabled me to take into account all the spiritual, psychosocial and physical factors in preparation for a good nursing career. I have learned to apply critical thinking and decision making in my evaluation and delegation of nursing care.

 
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The way a culture views particular illnesses determine my view on the profession, if the culture of the people is inculcated such that people treat each other with care and compassion, it directly affects the person who is suffering, I believe that the type of cultural values that people have towards the sick and all people usually have a reflective impact on how a sick person copes with the illness. Care and compassion play a major role in the healing process of a sick person and they should be cultural values in any society so that people can take good care of the sick. This view has made me to always approach the patients with care and compassion so that the healing process becomes shorter. Showing care and compassion enhances shared communication between a doctor and a patient (Quinn, 1992). It is this that enables the cultural acceptance of particular terminal diseases such as AIDS.

Care and compassion determines the course that a physical illness will take. Spirituality plays a major role in time of crisis and illness as it enable one to connect to the self, nature , God and others. It is a means to cope with grieve loss and death. Life threatening illness is a crisis on many levels and can be familial, social, spiritual or psychological. Religious beliefs and spiritual practices are crucial and affect the meaning of illness, physical and emotional well being and health care decisions especially for individuals facing illnesses which are life threatening. I believe that the spiritual, social and spiritual components should all be incorporated because they enhance the quality of life and that of dying. They also support the intrinsic dignity of the patients and their families.

Nursing is a caring profession (Boykin & Schoenhofer, 2001). Values are strategies for integrating and teaching core ideals in the nursing profession. The values that should be observed in the nursing practice are those of empathy, autonomy, altruism, social justice, integrity and human dignity. These values ensure that the heritage of caring behavior by nurses is strengthened for the future nursing workforce.

Ethics refers to the standards that direct nurses to act in accordance to their profession. They are ethics that have to be observed while taking care of patients. Nightingale (1969) advised on specific issues of nurses' behavior and moral conduct. Moral interpretation in nursing refers to private or personal interpretation of what is good or bad.  My personal values may conflict with my obligation creating a conflict if a sick person presents something that contradict with my own moral code, I can't put aside my moral codes and go ahead with providing care for the patient. I don't believe that I should set aside my own moral code in order to provide care that is excellent. When faced with such a scenario, I believe that I should excuse myself from providing care to that particular patient.

This enhances the maintenance of personal and professional integrity.  Abortion has been legalized in many countries and thus it is medically legal, I find it personally immoral and I believe that it should not be procured unless the mother's life is in danger, this may lead to an ethical dilemma because I would not want to procure an abortion simply because the law allows it, to me it is immoral and I would not procure one or accompany a physician who is procuring it. I would also refuse to take an order from a physician especially if the medication he is going to use on the patient is lethal, I would not help a physician to kill a patient no matter what the case. Sometime patients also ask the nurses to kill them by removing air tubes or other medical apparatus so that their suffering can end. I would not do such an act because it contradicts with my principles.

Nursing care requires that a nurse honors and recognizes the culture and cultural influence of their patients. Nurses need to integrate their own culture into the relationship with the patient and in delivering care. Nursing should be all encompassing and thus promotion of wellness, health and prevention of diseases in individuals should be observed by nurses no matter the resources the patient or client has (Sobel, 1969). Values usually enable the growth of nurses, the nursing profession, the larger community and the people receiving the care. Nurses' values in their workplace are shaped by the position and responsibility that they hold. The values of the nurses are determined by achieving results, developing self worth and recognition. Values such as quality, involvement, respect, integrity, focusing on the patients, creativity and accountability should be observed. Values are important to the nursing profession since they are the basis of nursing care and hence lead to sustainable strategies in the nursing profession.

Most people evaluate nursing in regard to outcomes that have been achieved or the technical competences, it is for this reason that we as nurses should take our work to be holistic in that caring for a person should require a standard of accountability and a wide range of skills. I believe that nurses have the most influence in situations that represent extremes of life; the caring approach which is influenced by a nurse's value and principles is usually all that is left especially in painkilling care or those with advanced terminal diseases. Nurses are even called upon in conflict and war situations to offer care to the victims. By doing this they promote the health of these individuals. Values determine how patients live with the nurses and without them it would be impossible to make a case for nursing.

 

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