ANA and ACHE Ethics Comparison
ANA Code of Ethics
Main points/highlights covered in this section of the code?
As per the second requirement of the ethical code of American Nurses Association (ANA), nurses need to not only have knowledge, but also be well-versed in both federal and state laws and policies in healthcare settings where they are employed. Furthermore, they need to possess a sound understanding of their ethical code (American Nurses Association). To put it briefly, the chief duty of nurses is: ensuring patient well-being and, in the event they notice any impaired or unethical behavior, taking action for ensuring the patient comes to no harm. This may be categorized as follows;
Primacy of the patient's interests
The primary commitment of a nurse is to his/her patient (i.e., the individual receiving healthcare / nursing services). The service recipient may be a single individual, a group, a family, or even an entire community. The field of nursing maintains a basic commitment to patient uniqueness. Hence, all care plans need to reflect this uniqueness.
Conflict of interest for nurses
Quite often, nursing professionals encounter conflicting situations that stem from competing workplace loyalties; these include situations wherein patients, their families, colleagues, doctors, and in several instances, health plans and health care organizations, have conflicting expectations. Nurses need to examine conflicts that emerge between their professional and personal values, interests and values of other individuals in charge...
Nurses endeavor to resolve these sorts of conflicts through the adoption of means that priorities patient safety, safeguard the best interests of patients, and preserve their own professional integrity.
Collaboration
The concept of collaboration involves more than just cooperation; it is a concerted individual/group effort at attaining a common goal. In the healthcare arena, this goal is to address the public's and individual patients' health needs. The complex nature of care delivery systems necessitates the adoption of a multi-disciplinary perspective to health service delivery that has active participation and strong support from all professionals in the field of healthcare. In this context, the nursing scope of practice, their unique contribution, and their link to other healthcare providers must be explicitly represented, articulated, and maintained.
What did you learn about this section of the code?
From this section of ANA's ethical code, I learnt that, despite the fact that I am hired by a medical facility, I need to ensure that I give priority to my duty and responsibility to patients over duty to the facility. Moreover, if a private practicing physician has employed me, my responsibility, above everything else, is assuring competent and superior quality patient care (American Nurses Association). In other words, I need to check for impaired judgments and staff at all times, and be ready to immediately report all unsafe practices I witness.
How will…
