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Professional Ethics

In: People

Submitted By pnealkelley
Words 2093
Pages 9
Running head: PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

Professional Ethics Paper Patrick Kelley University of Phoenix Health Law and Ethics NUR 478 Susan Lawson, RN, MS, CLNC July 18, 2010
Professional Ethics Paper The purpose of this paper is to describe the relationships between legal and ethical issues, identify personal values and professional ethics, examine ethical theories and principles, and apply these to current practice examples. Nurses face an ever-growing complexity within their practice as professionals. Understanding the relationship between legal and ethical issues and how to apply that understanding to every day practice is paramount for today’s professional nurse. This paper will further explore these ethical theories and principles while discussing how personal values affect an individual’s nursing practice. The Relationship Between Legal and Ethical Issues Nurses, as with any job, face challenges in order to accomplish the tasks of their role. This is one of the reasons that it is important to have a description that serves as guidance as to how the role is to be accomplished. Without such guidelines, it is likely that there will be a breach of established rules along the way to performing duties and accomplishing the job duties. In situations where one person exercises authority over another, there are important guidelines that define relationship between the two parties. Legal and ethical principles define how a job is to be carried out and how individuals are to relate to one another. Legal and professional ethics define the liability of the person that is entrusted with accomplishing a certain task. They also define guidelines that one is likely to use when a dilemma arises while implementing a job duty that has potential legal implications. Although the two terms are closely related,

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