Integrity of Nursing Flashcards
What is integrity?
Honesty, sincerity, uprightness, wholeness
Integration of our ideals into all aspects of our lives.
Commitment to people
Consistency in word and action
Adherence to a code of ethics, professional nursing standards.
The way in which we conduct ourselves as moral agents
Integrity is a fundamental value in nursing
Key feature in Virtue Ethics
What are four features of integrity?
Moral agency
Fidelity to promise
Steadfastness
Wholeness
What are four types of intersecting relationships that involve integrity?
Nurse - client
Nurse - institution
Nurse - colleague
Nurse - community
What is advocacy?
The active support of an important cause, supporting others to act for themselves or speaking on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves.
What are some characteristics of professional advocacy?
Advocacy is an integral part of nursing.
Can help form trust in nurse-patient relationships.
An enhancement of moral courage.
The skill of facilitating the needs of others.
A theme within Virtue Ethics.
What is individual advocacy?
Individuals assisted to authentically exercise their freedom of self-determination.
What is professional advocacy?
Actions taken on behalf of individual patients and actions taken to expose and redress underlying problems inherent in larger contexts of institutions, policy making and the health care delivery system.
What are some risks of professional advocacy?
Hostility, isolation from peers, emotional toll, reprimand, impinge on job opportunities.
What are some barriers to professional advocacy?
equity and fairness (can’t promote the interests of one if it is impinging on the interests of others), systemic issues, requires time, energy, resources, understanding of a patient’s rights, requires support and capacity (assertiveness, confidence, knowledge)
What are the benefits of professional advocacy?
Sustained contact with patient provides insight into injustices.
What is a challenge of professional advocacy?
Requires a balance between the health needs of an individual vs. a population
What are some fundamental values of caring (embodied knowledge)?
Interconnectedness with mind/body/spirit
Emotional sensitivity to the experience of others
Perception of the context/perspective of the experience.
Integral part of our cognitive appraisal of a situation.
Can be learned by cultivating openness, attentiveness.
Allows us to be informed, responsive and empowered.
A theme within Virtue Ethics.
Intuition.
What does caring allow us to do?
Allows us to be informed, responsive and empowered.
What is embodied knowledge?
Embodied knowledge – this is when your body knows how to act in a situation, or understand without actually thinking about it. This comes back to our intuition, our own caring nature, our ability to be empathetic.
What is the result of embodied knowledge?
Results in the capacity to develop empathy.
What does embodied knowledge do?
Enhances capacity to form accurate moral perceptions and moral judgements/actions
What does a sympathetic person do? (Caring - embodied knowledge)
A sympathetic and compassionate person is more likely to perceive situations as warranting beneficent acts and to perform beneficent acts
What are the values in the CNA code of ethics?
- Providing safe, compassionate, competent and ethical care
- Promoting health and well-being
- Promoting and respecting informed decision-making
- Preserving dignity
- Maintaining privacy and confidentiality
- Promoting justice
- Being accountable
What are responsibility statements?
Statements accompanying each ethical value that guide our practice
What are the three levels of guidance?
Prescriptive
Advisory
Limited
What warrants prescriptive guidance?
In the case of an ethical violation
What warrants advisory guidance?
In the case of an ethical dilemma
What warrants limited guidance?
In the case of ethical distress
What is the purpose of the CNA code of ethics? (How does it help us)
guides ethical decision making
outlines a set of values basic to nursing practice
provides a means for self-evaluation
provides a basis for peer review initiatives
informs nurses of their values/standards
informs the public of nurses’ values/standards
What are some limitations of the CNA code of ethics?
does not provide the ethical values for every situation
does not recognize the unique context of an ethical situation
does not identify a system of prioritizing values
does not recognize the moral reasoning required to work through an ethical situation
When does a nurse have the duty to report?
Impaired practice (incompetent or unsafe) Unethical behaviour HCP charged/convicted of a crime
What does a nurse have the duty to report?
Failing to provide safe, competent care
Breech of ethical standards
Questionable behavior that is likely to continue
Unable/ unwilling to recognize and correct the behavior
Harm has been caused
Who does a nurse report to?
Directly (describe behaviour)
Manager (choose course of action)
Regulatory body (report to CRNBC if un-resolved)
