HSNS170 Frameworks For Nursing Practice

There being an ever-increasing demand on healthcare services due to the tremendous increase in worldwide population, often results from caring givers losing sight of the person behind the treated condition. However, to ensure the patient stick to the treatment plan, such as through medication adherence, the nurse should ensure the patient feel much respected while receiving care (Burton, 2018). The person-centred nursing care may, however, be underpinned by the professional, ethical standards. The assignment outlines the ICN code of ethics for nurses and its application in nursing care practice. Besides, it has described what person-centred care is and finalized by the selection of one element of the ICN code of ethics as an example and its application in person-centred nursing care practice.  

The ICN Code of Ethics for Nurses

The ICN Code of Ethics for Nurses can be defined as a guideline for action based on social values and needs that only has a meaning when applied in the nursing and healthcare realities in the ever-changing society where care is given. There has been revision and reaffirmation of the code of ethics for a number of times since its first adoption in the year 1953. Furthermore, 2012 marks the most recent completion of ICN’s review and revision. Among the things that the ICN Code of ethics takes into consideration is respect for human rights while caring for patients. Such rights include both the right to life and right to choose, right to dignity and right to be treated with respect as a patient.  It ensures that nursing care is delivered with the utmost respect and that factors such as patients’ age and colour among many others cannot have an impact on it. Nursing care, in general, is inclusive as it does not leave out the patient’s family and community while caring for the patient (Council, 2012).  

Its application, therefore, involves the nurses taking into consideration of its four principal elements while caring for patients for their health promotion, prevention of illness, alleviating their suffering and restoring their health. The elements include the 1st code Code which is nurses and people, the second one, nurses and practice, the third one, nurses and the profession and lastly, is the nurses and co-workers as according to Council (2012).

Nurses and People.

People in need of nursing care is the primary professional nurses’ responsibility fulfilment of this element. This ensures the promotion of an environment friendly where patients’ values, human rights and customs are respected. Besides, both the patients’ community and the family’s spiritual beliefs and customs are respected as well.  It is applied when the caring nurse gives the patients timely information that is both accurate and sufficient enough to make them understand their health status well. The nurses also handle patient’s information with the utmost confidentiality.

The element allows the nurse to advocate for equity in terms of healthcare coverage and accessibility in society. Last application of this element is when nurses demonstrate their nursing professional values as they care for their clients. Such values may include not only kindness and respect but also trustworthiness and integrity during the entire nursing practice. From the outline, it, therefore, goes without saying that this ICN’s first element is in synchrony with the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and the 7^th of the NMBA’s code of ethics.  They outline that nurses value equity when providing quality care to their patients, respecting the clients and being kind for both self and others including colleagues and other healthcare professionals working in collaboration to care for a patient. Besides, they value peoples’ diversity since every client has his/her own sociocultural believes when it comes to nursing care. Furthermore, nurses value informed decision making and being involved in a practice that is ethically acceptable such as when handling patients’ information (Rights, 2004).

Nurses and practice.

As the second element, its application involves nurses carrying personal responsibility and accountability in the services offered. The nurses maintain continual competency by continuous learning, even from mistakes. Furthermore, nurses maintain optimal health standards that ensure minimal compromise inability to provide care. Last but not least, the nurses use their judgement skills in the delegation of responsibilities and ensuring compatibility with technology and scientific advancement while ensuring not only patients’ safety and but also the patient’s dignity. It as well in synchrony with the 6^th NMBA code of ethics which outlines that Australian nurses value safety in nursing care practices. Moreover, this element is as well in supportive of NMBA 6^th nursing standard of practice which ensures that the nurse provides responsive quality nursing practise that is safe and appropriate (NMBA, 2016).

Nurses and the Profession

This being the third ICN Codes of Ethics for nurses, its application involves nurses actively involved in developing a professional knowledge that is research-based and is in support of evidence-based nursing practice and ensuring development and sustainability of nursing professional values. Besides the nurse is actively involved in the professional organizations and participates in practices that ensure a patient-friendly environment in terms of both patient safety and socially and economically equitable for the nurse. (Council, 2012).

Nurses and Co-workers.

This element’s practical application involves the nurse sustaining a respectful environment where there is effective collaboration with the other healthcare workers involved in caring for the patients in context. During the nursing practice, the nurse ensures the other healthcare workers advance ethical conduct; this helps to prevent patients who could be endangered by Co-workers. (Council, 2012).

Person-centred nursing care practice.

This is a practice that focusses on the personal needs, wants and desires of an individual. The focus is to ensure they become central to the whole nursing care process that functions systematically starting with patient’s assessment, diagnosis, goal setting and planning, implementation of the outlined interventions and evaluation as according to (Sansone, 2014; Toney-Butler & Thayer, 2019). Person-centred care involves consideration of the patient’s needs to their definition above those that are identified by the healthcare professionals. (Draper& Tetley, 2019). Whatever is considered focal to the person-centred care nursing practice is knowing the personality part of the patient.

The most appropriate ICN Code for Nurses’ code is the “Nurses and people.” In this code of ethics, patients’ values, human rights and customs are respected by the nurses providing care to these patients. This ensures a friendly environment that does not only allows the nurse to know the patient as an individual but also fosters trustworthy caregiving relationships, emphasizing patients’ freedom of choice. Despite the individual Person-centered care as well involves the patients’ family and community appropriately. In return, it promotes both patients’ physical and emotional comfort (Draper& Tetley, 2019) ending up with a positive healthcare outcome.

Conclusion.

Nationwide, Australia aims at protecting the public when it comes to healthcare. Hence the development of various nursing boards such as the NMBA that take part in the regulation of nations nursing practices through the creation of guidelines and codes of ethics for the nurses.  The assignment has outlined the ICN nurses’ code of Ethics and its application, including the application of the first code in person-centred care nursing practice to promote both patients’ physical and emotional comfort. 

References.

NMBA. (2016). Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia – Registered nurse standards for practice. Registered Nurses Standards for Practice, June, 7. https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Professional-standards/registered-nurse-standards-for-practice.aspx

Council, I. (2012). Revised 2012 THE ICN CODE OF ETHICS FOR NURSES. Retrieved May 17, 2020, from https://www.icn.ch/sites/default/files/inline-files/2012_ICN_Codeofethicsfornurses_ eng.pdf

Toney-Butler, T. J., Thayer J. M. (2019). Nursing Process – StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf. Retrieved May 17, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499937/

Sansone, R. (2014). Nursing process. In Fundamentals of Nursing Made Incredibly Easy!: Second Edition (p. 4). Wolters Kluwer Health Adis (ESP). https://doi.org/10.5005/jp/books/14252_4

Burton., L. (2018). Person-Centred Care: What is it & Why is it Important?. Retrieved May 17, 2020, from https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/what-is-person-centred-care/

Draper., J. Tetley, J. (2019).    The importance of person-centred approaches to nursing care – OpenLearn – Open University. Retrieved May 17, 2020, from https://www.open.edu/openlearn/body-mind/health/nursing/the-importance-person-centred-approaches-nursing-care

Rights, P. (2004). Code of Ethics for Nurses in Australia. 1–11. Retrieved May 17, 2020, from https://waubrafoundation.org.au/resources/code-ethics-for-nurses-australia/