Personal Nursing Ethics
Grand Canyon University
NRS-437V

Personal Nursing Ethics The American Nurses Association relates as part of its Code of Ethics that “The nurse, in all professional relationships, practices with compassion and respect for the dignity, worth, and uniqueness of every individual, unrestricted by considerations of social or economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of health problems” (ANA, 2010). Given this, all nurses should be practicing their profession equally regardless of their own beliefs, values, or morals. As nurses come from many backgrounds and view each situation differently, that is not always a possibility. Such things as gender, religion, culture, traditions, and family are integral in shaping a system of beliefs or values that influence morality (Navran, 2010) and thus influences how nurses practice their profession. In accepting nursing as a profession, nurses vow to make the patient their chief commitment and must honor that commitment by giving unbiased care that is not influenced by personal values, morals, or beliefs.
Personal Moral Compass There are many variables guiding a nurse in his or her everyday practice. Whether one is aware of the constant weighing of values and beliefs through critical thinking as they complete each shift or not, those intrinsic basics for their morality are what is guiding them to make these ethical decisions. The groundwork for the standards of professional behavior were laid in nursing school (Jane, 2010) and were meant to be continued throughout each student’s career. Patients should be given an equal opportunity to be cared for regardless of status and that care should be holistic. That is, it should extend beyond the patient to family and even to one’s co-workers and self. As a result, nurses are charged with the responsibility to utilize sound critical thinking skills, evidence-based practice, and care without bias (McCurry & Revell & Roy, 2009).
Some might argue that care only refers to the patient , not the family or co-workers. Families are an extension of patients; they too are scared about sickness, at times lacking adequate coping skills, and have needs. A well-practicing nurse sees their co-workers as a team, knows when to utilize them for sound judgment and realizes when co-workers too might need that holistic care.
Philosophy of Nursing As one is growing and constantly evolving through life, values are influenced by many factors; parental interactions, culture, peer-to-peer relationships, education, and perceived societal messages through television, books, magazines, and the internet to name a few. These form standards by which he or she lives, helping to determine the difference between right or wrong decisions (Navran, 2010). Situations concerning nursing are not always black and white, but the oath to ‘do no harm’ to a patient is one that should and must be taken seriously. Nurses are trained to ensure that this is unavoidable if the nursing process and evidence-based practice is utilized. If there is doubt, a nurse cannot afford anything less than humility and this must be when a peer and/or a doctor is consulted.
Nurses must be honest, fair, compassionate, responsible and a sound advocate. These traits can be cultivated in nursing school and nurtured, but there must be basic integrity. Nursing is an ever-changing field and nurses must change with it to provide the best patient care. It is difficult to do so without allowing personal values or morals to interfere. There are moments of struggle when making decisions that conflict with these, but a nurse can remain confident when he or she does what is best for the patient without allowing personal feelings to influence.

Ethical Dilemmas Nursing is a complicated and at times difficult field where nurses will find themselves faced with ethical dilemmas more often than they realize or appreciate. These dilemmas can be any degree of severity, causing a only minor worry or a great deal of distress. This is where critical thinking skills are of such value, but they cannot always prepare a nurse for what might arise. Peer input and at times doctor input is needed. Yet, there are split-second decisions that must be made where the ethics or morals of a nurse may be challenged and in this instance it is not always as simple as what is better for the patient.
The patient’s well-being must be foremost in all situations, but the question arises, what if that goes against his or her wishes? If a patient is competent, a nurse must follow the patient’s desires no matter how it goes against their personal values. One such dilemma is a severely anemic patient requiring blood but refusing for religious reasons. If the blood could save the patient’s life, it is difficult for any nurse to step aside and allow it. Nursing is about facilitating healing, not death, and when death is imminent, comfort.
Another dilemma, and one that is very often witnessed, is quality-of-life (Casterle & Izumi & Godfrey & Denhaerynck, 2008). It is easy to become frustrated when there are 86 year old patients who are still Full Codes and the family is insisting upon putting a feeding tube in to prolong life because the patient has dementia and cannot speak for their self. Perhaps one of the most common, and frustrating, however, is pain control. Nurses are very strong advocates for patients and pain control, but it can be complicated with many factors. It is taught that pain is ‘whatever the patient states it is’. There are times though that it can be difficult to know whether that is the case.
Conclusion
Nurses face many challenges during each shift and can be faced with ethical dilemmas. At times, these dilemmas may not be ones the nurse can handle by himself or herself. If they are practicing with integrity, they will know and understand that patient care is not something that is given on the contingency of a personal value or moral. Patients must all be treated equally regardless of any number of factors. Nurses are charged with the responsibility to give critically sound, evidence-based care and must do so unencumbered by personal feelings.

References
American Nurses Association. (2010). Code of Ethics. Retrieved from: http://nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/CodeofEthicsforNurses/Code-of-Ethics.pdf. Navran, F.J. (2010). Defining Values, Morals, and Ethics. Retrieved from: http://www.navran.com/article-values-morals-ethics.html.
Jane, D. (2010). Nursing Ethics. Retrieved from: http://nursingcrib.com/nursing-notes-reviewr/fundamentals-of-nursing/nursing-ethics/. Dierckx de Casterle, B. & Izumi, S. & Godfrey, N.S. & Denhaerynck, K. (2008). Nurses’ responses to ethical dilemmas in nursing practice: meta-analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 63(6). 540-549. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2008.04702.x.